trevor j major

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The Text

As we sat down to study Plato’s Republic, the professor raised no questions about our text’s essential reliability and integrity. Alternate translations were mentioned, but briefly. There was never any doubt as to the book’s unity or authorship. We were never offered any grand theories on where the “real” writers of the book obtained their source materials, or what agenda they might have been pushing. Plato and his work were never belittled. The editor of our English edition praised the Republic as a “great work.” Our task as students was clear: we were there to explore the authentic writings of a real historical figure who lived in Athens over 2,300 years ago.
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In a wonderfully uplifting passage, Matthew heralds the good news of Jesus’ birth (1:18-25). He is the Son of God, born of a virgin, and conceived by the Holy Spirit.

This was an important teaching to stress in the early church. Many religious people in those days believed that God would anoint a special leader—a messiah—who would save the Jews from Roman oppression, but they missed two vital points. First, God had always intended that this leader would free them, not from political bandage to some earthly power, but from spiritual bondage to sin (Luke 24:21-27). And second, this Person would be greater than any military or political leader. He would, in fact, be fully God and fully man (John 1:14; Philippians 2:7-8).

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