Signs and Miracles Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Signs and Miracles - Research Paper Example The miracles of Jesus create a representation of his state as the Messiah and close reading with the stories of the miracles, along with an understanding of the past and the future allow the reader to see the miracles than more than just wondrous events. The Eight Miracles During his lifetime Jesus performed a long series of miracles that helped to give credibility to his ministry. In addition, these miracles gave beauty and compassion to the historic value of the nature of his love. His miracles can be broken down into six periods and the stories of those miracles provide different meanings to the context in which they are told. The first period is a â€Å"preparatory period† between his baptism until he calls his disciples to him.1 Four miracles occurred during this time that as it is reported in the histories. He then continued forward to perform sixteen miracles in the first portion of his ministry, eight in the second, six in the third, and four in the last days before hi s death. After his resurrection he performed one miracle. The total number of miracles reported as having been done by Jesus is 34.2 There can be identified eight miracles that are considered to be sign miracles. Leeler, Grimbly, and Wiggins define seven sign miracles that suggest that Jesus is the son of God. These ‘signs’ are intended to signal his arrival and to be taken as reflective of the nature of worship that would be used towards Jesus as the son of God. As well they define him as deified. The first sign, according to Leeler, Grumbly, and Wiggins, is the most important sign as it is the first to signal that he was more than a prophet or a man. The first sign miracle identified is that of the miracle at the wedding feast in Cana where Jesus turned the water into wine.3 The importance of these signs, such as turning the water into wine, is that they are visible and do not leave an abstracted idea of the nature of Jesus. They clearly proclaim that he is divine.4 I n turning the water into wine, the act provided for â€Å"symbolic actions (that) were valuable for his purpose because they were able to integrate several levels of meaning into a coherent whole†.5 Jesus showed himself through compassionate and real life applications of his miracles. The sign of the wine is also connected to prophesy concerning the messiah. According to Koestner, the use of wine was symbolic of the expectation that there would be an â€Å"outpouring of divine favor upon Israel†, the quote from reflections that suggested that â€Å"the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it’ and sometimes connecting abundant wine with the restoration of Davidic rule (Amos 9:11, 13; Joel 3:18; Isa 25:6)†.6 That the messiah was from the line of Davis was an important proof of his deity, however reinforcing that deification through associating his miracles with wine provided for symbolic proof, as well the proof of his lineage. Because of the well known, but sometimes vague nature of prophesy, creating symbolic proofs was as important as creating blatant proofs. Short of crying out this claim, the miracle of creating wine from water was a sign to those who had studied the prophesies that Jesus was the Messiah that Israel had been waiting to arrive. The second sign miracle can be considered as the act of healing the royal official’s son. According to Gross who paraphrases John 4: 46-54, Jesus says to the official that â€Å"

Are The Degree Programs In Business Administration Sufficiently Essay

Are The Degree Programs In Business Administration Sufficiently Rigorous Academically, Compared To Other Programs - Essay Example Whereas the word, "doctoral" is in most cases used only to describe a PhD program, there are several other degrees which are doctoral degrees, and this include the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD), Doctor of Medicine (MD), Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) and Doctor of Education (EdD). Although the degree is a platform for the advancement in careers relating to research, consulting, or business administration, most students who undertake the PhD programs promote specializing in a critical dimension such as accounting, finance or marketing (Cass 8). Students wishing to improve their academic careers because, the PhD is the doctorate that is commonly pursing this. On the other hand, the Doctor of Business Administration, also known as DBA, is formulated to equip business executives with skills required in pursuing business, as well as public administration careers, which entails enhanced research skills, along with their qualifications. Apart from that, some of these programs can serve as go between in careers within academia. The Doctor of Business Administration is intended to present business executives with requirements needed to succeed in conducting business, as well as public administration careers that require more developed research skills, along with their qualifications. On the other hand, some of these DBA programs may serve as pathways into careers within academia (Cass 9). The comparability of these two programs is more than their diversity, however, the main difference between a business PhD program and a DBA program originates in the way the two programs are oriented, along with the desired outcome. A PhD program focuses on the development of a new theory, while, on the other hand, DBA, focuses on applying theoretical knowledge in order to make progression of a business practice. Another stunning difference between a PhD and a doctoral is that, although all PHD degrees are doctorates, not all doctorate degrees quali fy to be PhDs (Crocker 45). PhD programs are meant to describe programs whose priority is on research, while, on the other hand, the purpose of doctoral programs is to master research program, as well as professional practices. Even so, both DBA and PhD programs require innovative research in the formation, as well as defense of a thesis. However, there is a difference in the DBA program, with some of them being more driven towards knowledge application, while others are driven towards knowledge creation. The same reasoning applies to PhD programs whereby some programs in business like Doctor of Management and Executive Doctor of Management follows this path (Crocker 46). The designation "doctor," denoting mastery of a certain subject, came from Italy in the early 1100s. However, the current form of the PhD came from the Germany university system in the 19th century, which was established to demonstrate that the student with a degree had accomplished original research in a field wor k; and this was incorporated by Americans in its own universities in the late 1800s. Contemporary PhD students are expected to spend an average of eight and half years in graduate school, making theses which are hundreds of pages long, while at the same time, performing research and mastering the literature of his or her field, regularly in preparation of a career in teaching in the university