CHRISTIANITY

  SHOULD CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN? Even though the modern name ‘Halloween’ derives from the contraction of the English term ‘All-Hallows-Eve’, which is the day before the Christian festival of ‘All Saints Day’, in reality, Halloween comes from before the traditional Church elected the 1 st of November as the ‘Day of All Saints’ and the 2 nd of November as ‘Day of All Souls’. (1) SAMHAIN Halloween is a revival of the Celtic pagan celebration of ‘Harvest Day’ or ‘Samhain’, where the pagan used to celebrate the end of harvest and the commencement of Winter, from the night of the 31 st of October to the 1 st of November, through the use of magic, sacrificial offerings to spirits, invocation of elves, fairies, pagan gods and other demonic characters were called for protection for the coming winter. (2) After Christianity tried to ‘redeem’ these pagan celebrations by adopting the celebration of all Saints on the day, centuries later it revived in England during the 16 th c

  CHRIST THE POWER AND THE WISDOM OF GOD. When St Paul explained the basis of his evangelistic work among the gentiles to the congregation of Corinth, he said in his first canonical letter: “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” 1Corinthians 1:17 Here Paul was making clear not that baptism was not important for salvation (Mk 16:16; Ac 2:38), but that without personal faith, baptism had no effect in a human, and therefore his first responsibility was to convert people, by preaching the message of Jesus to the world. Baptism would follow naturally as it was the apostolic practice. (Ac 2:41; 8:36-38). But St Paul also said something else. He said that Lord Jesus did not send him to preach with human argumentation, but with the power of God. Paul many times used human reasoning and rhetoric in his preaching to Jews and Gentiles (Ac 17:2, 17; 28:23), something th

  MANY ARE CALLED BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN 1And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 5But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom

  MI CARGA ES LIGERA 25 En aquel tiempo, hablando Jesús, dijo: Te alabo, Padre, Señor del cielo y de la tierra, porque ocultaste estas cosas a sabios e inteligentes, y las revelaste a los niños. 26 Sí, Padre, porque así fue de tu agrado. 27 Todas las cosas me han sido entregadas por mi Padre; y nadie conoce al Hijo, sino el Padre, ni nadie conoce al Padre, sino el Hijo, y aquel a quien el Hijo se lo quiera revelar. 28 Venid a mí, todos los que estáis cansados y cargados, y yo os haré descansar. 29 Tomad mi yugo sobre vosotros y aprended de mí, que soy manso y humilde de corazón, y HALLAREIS DESCANSO PARA VUESTRAS ALMAS. 30 Porque mi yugo es fácil y mi carga ligera. MATEO 11:25-30 COMENTARIO El Señor Jesús hizo esta reflexión en voz alta para nuestro beneficio, después de que los discípulos de Juan el Bautista le preguntaran si Él era el Mesías y confrontara a sus oyentes acerca de su visión del ministerio de Juan y la posición de los demás sobre Él mismo. Muchos tuvie

  THE MILLENNIUM OF THE REIGN OF JESUS The biblical doctrine of Millennialism has been vastly discussed through the centuries since the concept was introduced to Christianity through the book of Revelation 20:1-10. Many reputable fathers and later theologians have held different interpretations of this millennial reign of Jesus, as the passage calls it (Rv 20:4), some considering it literal (Ireneaus, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Papias)(1); while others took it on a symbolic level (2). Today there are four main theories of how this Millennium is understood by Christians from all denominations around the world: 1 – Dispensational Pre-Millennialism Considers that Jesus will return to rapture his Church (Dead and living) prior to the period of the Great Tribulation and will return with his saints to rule for 1000 years over the nations on Earth, before the Great Judgement. They have a literal view on eschatology, and it is primarily held among American modern evangelicals and Pente