Bible Dictionary Project New Testament
For this distinct project, imagine you are writing a series of short articles for a Bible Dictionary.Bible
dictionaries are useful tools to learn more about the books, people, and places we encounter in Scripture.
Your task will be to write:
- Three concise 200�250-word essays about a book, person, and setting/place from the New
Testament (Due at the end of Module/Week 8).
Content Guidelines: Choose 1 book, person, and place from the list of the provided topics for each of the
2 projects.
BIBLE DICTIONARY PROJECT NEW TESTAMENT 2
GOSPEL OF JOHN
Whereas a gospel is an account of an individual’s life, it differs from a biography in that
it is intended to influence the believe system of the reader. It is thus founded on a precise
purpose that is projected to make a life-changing decision possible from lessons learnt (Yoo,
2013). The gospel of John is a gospel that has managed to capture the account of Jesus’ life
vividly – John manages to bring forth in a simple manner the relationship between human and
divine.
In his statement “The Word became flesh and made dwelling among us” John reveals to
any reader how divinity can ever be united with humanity. It on this premise that Jesus dies
appear in human form making it possible to relate to him and thus an example to be followed
(Yoo, 2013). In his human nature, he lives a normal life bereft of any extraordinary powers.
This makes it easy to appreciate Jesus’ will which is in complete harmony with the will of God.
John treats miracles in a different way from the other gospels. He uses only seven
miracles not as evidence to support the claim of Jesus as the true messiah, but to bring forth
spiritual lessons (Yoo, 2013). As a result of this strategy, the Gospel of John emerges as having
a great presentation of the meaning of Christianity – without having necessarily to depend on the
historical verification or scientific accuracy.
JESUS:
BIBLE DICTIONARY PROJECT NEW TESTAMENT 3
Jesus also known as Christ which means a messiah or king, is a man who was born about
2000 years ago. The significance of his birth is such that modern civilization marks it by
dividing time between B.C (before Christ) and A.D (Anno Domini). After working for his
farther as a carpenter apprentice until age thirty, He engaged in itinerant preaching for the next
three years. Despite not authoring any book, holding any office, not owning a home, never
visiting a big city or travelling more than 200 miles from his birthplace, His teachings affected
the life of man so profoundly. This was achieved without ever having done anything that was
associated with greatness then (Langley, 2014).
He courted controversy wherever he went. From claiming to be the God, to directly
violating Jewish law – working on Sabbath, he was viewed by the religious leadership then – and
rightly so, as a threat to their powers (Langley, 2014). Not knowing what to do to curtail his
growing influence, the religious leaders conspired with the political leadership – the Roman
government, to have him executed in the most vile and public manner. This they hoped would
end his influence once and for all.
However, when in the third day he rose from the dead, their well laid plans were all laid
to waste. With over 500 witnesses of his resurrection, he spent a further 40 days journeying
throughout the provinces of Israel before finally ascending to heaven from the City of Jerusalem
where they had executed him (Langley, 2014). His teaching influence was such that, there exists
an account of how over 3000 people became his followers on one occasion. Over the next 100
years, his teachings influenced and made followers all over the Roman Empire. When Emperor
Constantine ascended to the throne of the Roman Empire, Christianity became the official
religion courtesy of him being a convert to Christianity.
GOLGOTHA:
BIBLE DICTIONARY PROJECT NEW TESTAMENT 4
This is the name used in the bible to point out the place where Jesus was crucified.
Controversy does exist about its true location presently. Some Christians hold that it is within
the area presently occupied by the Church of Holy Sepulcher. The word Golgotha is a derivative
of the Aramaic word Gulguta which means the place of skulls. History shows that that change to
Calvary was as a result of the choice of the word Calvaria in the first translation of the bible into
latin – Calvaria means skull.
Many explanations do exists that try to explain why Golgotha was named the place of
skull. Some argue that the site which was on a hill or next to a rock had the shape of a human
skull (Langley, 2014). Third-century scholars did argue that it referred to the place where
Adam’s skull was buried. The bible writers did not see it important to point out the precise
location of Golgotha. Instead they the bible offers three specific clues found (John 19: 41-42,
Hebrews 13:12, Matthew 27:39).
BIBLE DICTIONARY PROJECT NEW TESTAMENT 5
References
Langley, J. B (2014) Called by Jesus Name: The Connective Value of the Divine Appellate
Between the Testaments, Regent University, Ann Arbor.
Yoo, J. W (2013) The Rhetoric of Truth in the Gospel of John “Truth” as Conter-Imperial
Reality in the Face of Conflict and Stress, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Ann
Arbor.
