Although in Christian teachings, ''Lamb of God'' refers to Jesus Christ in his role of the perfect sacrificial offering, specific Christological arguments disassociate it from the Old Testament concept of a "scape goat" which is subjected to punishment for the sins of others, without ''knowing it or willing it''. These teachings emphasize that Jesus chose to suffer in Calvary as a sign of his full obedience to the will of his Father, as an "agent and servant of God".

A lion-like lamb which rises to deliver victory after being slain appears several times in the Book of Revelation. Although also indirectly referred to in Pauline writings, nothing in the context of 1 Corinthians 5:7 directly implies that in that specific passage Saint Paul refers the death of Jesus using the same theme as in Johannine writings.

The Lamb of God title has found widespread use in Christian prayers and the ''Agnus Dei'' is used both in liturgy and as a form of contemplative prayer. Agnus Dei has also been the subject of musical settings by well known composers.

Gospel of John

These two proclamations of Jesus as the Lamb of God closely bracket the Baptist's other proclamation in John 1:34: "I have borne witness that this is the Son of God". From a Christological perspective, these proclamations and the descent of the Holy Spirit as a dove in John 1:32 reinforce each other to establish the divine element of the Person of Christ. In Johannine Christology the proclamation "who takes away the sin of the world" begins the unfolding of the salvific theme of the redemptive and sacrificial death of Jesus followed by his resurrection which is built upon in other proclamations such as "this is indeed the Saviour of the world" uttered by the Samaritans in John 4:42.

Book of Revelation

From the outset, the book of Revelation is presented as a "revelation of Jesus Christ" and hence the focus on the lamb as both redeemer and judge presents the dual role of Jesus: he redeems man through self-sacrifice, yet calls man to account on the day of judgment.

Christology

The theme of a sacrificial lamb which rises in victory as the Resurrected Christ was employed in early Christology, e.g. in 375 Saint Augustine wrote: "Why a lamb in his passion? Because he underwent death without being guilty of any iniquity. Why a lion in his passion? Because in being slain, he slew death. Why a lamb in his resurrection? Because his innocence is everlasting. Why a lion in his resurrection? Because everlasting also is his might."

The 11th century Christology of Saint Anselm of Canterbury specifically disassociates Lamb of God from the Old Testament concept of an "escape goat" which is subjected to punishment for the sins of others, without ''knowing it or willing it''. Anselm emphasized that as Lamb of God Jesus chose to suffer in Calvary as a sign of his full obedience to the will of the Father.

John Calvin presented the same Christological view of "The Lamb as the agent of God" by arguing that in his trial before Pilate and while at Herod's Court Jesus could have argued for his innocence, but instead remained mostly quiet and submitted to Crucifixion in obedience to the Father, for he knew his role as the Lamb of God.

In modern Eastern Orthodox Christology, Sergei Bulgakov argued that the role of Jesus as the Lamb of God was "pre-eternally" determined by the Father before the creation of the world, as a sign of love by considering the scenario that it would be necessary to send The Son as an agent to redeem humanity disgraced by the fall of Adam.

In modern Roman Catholic Christology, Karl Rahner has continued to elaborate on the analogy that the blood of the Lamb of God, and the water flowing from the side of Christ on Calvary had a cleansing nature, similar to baptismal water. In this analogy, the blood of the Lamb washed away the sins of humanity in a new baptism, redeeming it from the fall of Adam.

Liturgy and music

In the Mass of the Roman Rite and also in the Eucharist of the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran Church, and the Western Rite of the Orthodox Church the ''Agnus Dei'' is the invocation to the Lamb of God sung or recited during the fraction of the Host. It is said to have been introduced into the Mass by Pope Sergius I (687–701).

''Agnus Dei'' has been set to music by many composers, usually as part of a Mass setting.

Art

In Early Christian art the symbol appears very early on. Several mosaics in churches include it, some showing a row of twelve sheep representing the apostles flanking the central Agnus Dei, as in Santi Cosma e Damiano, Rome (526-30).

The Moravian Church uses an Agnus Dei as their seal with the surrounding inscription ''Vicit agnus noster, eum sequamur'' ("Our Lamb has conquered, let us follow him.").

Although the depiction of Jesus as the Lamb of God is of ancient origin, it is not used in the liturgical iconography of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The reason for this is that the depictions of Jesus in the Orthodox Church are anthropomorphic rather than symbolic, as a confession of the Orthodox belief in the Incarnation of the Logos. However, there is no objection to the application of the term "Lamb of God" to Jesus. In fact, the Host used in the Orthodox Divine Liturgy is referred to as the Lamb (; Slavonic: Агнецъ, ''agnets'').

In the Roman Catholic Church it is also a tablet of wax stamped with a representation of Jesus as a lamb bearing a cross, then blessed by the Pope as a sacramental.

Gallery

See also

References

Category:Anglican liturgy Category:Catholic Liturgical Rites Category:Mass (liturgy) Category:Catholic liturgy Category:Eastern Christian liturgy Category:Lutheran liturgy and worship Category:Christian iconography Category:Christian terms

Biography

Musical career

As a child she released her first album, ''Little Twila Paris'', in 1965. The album included songs drawn from among those she sang with her family in their evangelistic outreaches.

Paris released her first full-length album, ''Knowin' You're Around'', in 1980, and along the way she has written books, recorded children's music, and created worship songs. Her song "God Is In Control" won a GMA Song of the Year award in 1995 and her 1992 ''Sanctuary'' release won the GMA Praise & Worship Album of the Year. She has won five GMA Dove Awards and three American Songwriter Awards.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Paris released mainly contemporary Christian pop songs. But in recent years, she has focused on recording new versions of some of her worship standards and writing new praise and worship music. Her 2005 album ''He Is Exalted: Live Worship'' collects a number of favorite songs commonly used in praise and worship of Paris's and presents them in a more typical style of live worship music. After her song "He Is Exalted" was used in churches in Brazil, Paris re-recorded it in the Portuguese translation they were using. This version appears on her 1992 album ''Sanctuary''.

Although associated for much of her career with Star Song Communications, EMI switched her to Sparrow Records in 1996, before her contract ended after 2003. In 2005, she switched to the praise and worship label Integrity Music for ''He Is Exalted: Live Worship''.

Twila released ''Small Sacrifice'' on December 26, 2007. which was available only through her website and at Lifeway Christian Stores. This album married the two parts of her career by including both inspirational pop/adult contemporary songs and original praise and worship compositions. Her first radio single from ''Small Sacrifice'' was "Live to Praise." ''Small Sacrifice'' was released for wider distribution by Koch Records on February 24, 2009.

Musical influence

Personal life

Discography

Source: www.twilaparis.com

Top Ten Singles in the 1980s and 1990s (Adult Contemporary Christian Charts)

Gospel Music Association Awards

Source: www.doveawards.com

Books

References

External links

Category:American pop singers Category:American Christians Category:American composers Category:American female singers Category:People from Arkansas Category:People from Fort Worth, Texas Category:American performers of Christian music Category:1958 births Category:Living people