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Explain it to me: John 3:16By Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor (CNN) – When quarterback Tim Tebow threw an 80-yard touchdown pass Sunday to secure an overtime victory for his Denver Broncos over the heavily favored Pittsburgh Steelers, some saw a biblical connection. The completion gave Tebow, an outspoken evangelical Christian whose penchant for last-minute heroics have given him a reputation as a miracle worker, 316 passing yards for the game. His ten completions averaged 31.6 yards a piece. Those figures inspired plenty of conversation and debate about a connection some saw to one of the most famous verses in the Bible, John 3:16. The New Testament verse is held up by Christians around the globe because it neatly summarizes some key points of Christianity: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life." (NIV) In the third chapter in the Gospel of John, Jesus is having a late night discussion with a Pharisee, one of the Jewish teachers of the law, named Nicodemus. The chapter is also where the expression "born again" originates. Jesus tells Nicodemus: "...no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." In his longer explanation of that idea, Jesus gets to the core of his message in verse 3:16. The verse is popular with Christians looking to share their faith because it's short and information-packed: God loves humankind, man has sinned and is destined for eternal punishment, but eternal live awaits all who believe in God's son, Jesus. John 3:16 also has a long history with football and pop culture. During last year's Super Bowl, the Fixed Point Foundation, which promotes Christianity in the public square, tried to buy an advertisement pushing people to a website to learn about John 3:16 but the ad was was rejected. The spot showed people watching a football game noticing the phrase John 3:16 on a player's eye black - a sticker or grease that players wear under the eyes to reduce glare from the sun. A man in the ad says he's going to look up the verse, while the ad directed viewers to www.lookup316.com. At the time, Fixed Point Executive Director Larry Taunton told CNN that Fox Sports said it rejected his commercial because it contained "religious doctrine," though Taunton said the ad avoided featuring the actual words of the verse. “Increasingly religion and Christianity is treated like smoking – you can do it but only in designated areas,” Taunton said. “They were saying there’s no place for (faith) in the public square. There’s a place for the soft core porn of Go-Daddy, violent movie trailers, and irresponsible drinking, but not for faith." As a workaround, the Fixed Point Foundation ran its ad on Fox stations locally in Birmingham, Alabama and Washington, DC during the Super Bowl. Tebow wore Bible verses on his eye black when he quarterbacked the Florida Gators in college. In the 2009 BCS championship game, he wrote John 3:16 on his eye black. After he left college football for the NFL in 2010, the NCAA banned players from writing on their eye black, which some have called the "Tebow rule." John 3:16 came into the pop culture view in the late 1970s and early 1980s at sporting events, when a man named Rollen Stewart would don a rainbow colored afro wig and a John 3:16 T-shirt. He was especially good at getting himself in front of the cameras at sporting and big cultural events, including the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Stewart grew increasingly fanatical about his crusade. In 1992 he took a maid hostage with a loaded gun at a Los Angeles hotel, demanding a national press conference to proclaim his new message that the end of the world was near. He plastered John 3:16 on hotel windows. CNN reported at the time that it took a SWAT team nine hours to free the woman. At his sentencing hearing Stewart had to be removed from court when he would not let the judge speak. As deputies were dragging him out of the courtroom he screamed, "Don't take me out, I said. God sends love to the world. Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they're doing. They know not what they're doing, Lord." That last phrase is also biblical, attributed to Jesus while he was praying for his executioners as he hung on the cross. Stewart was convicted and sent to prison in 1993 on three counts of hostage taking and is currently serving three life sentences at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California. Despite Stewart's story, many sports fans continue the tradition of evangelizing at sports games by holding up John 3:16 on placards. soundoff (1,904 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29Post a comment
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, with daily contributions from CNN's worldwide newsgathering team and frequent posts from religion scholar and author Stephen Prothero.  |
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What I love is the part of the article where he says a group tried to buy a Super Bowl ad "pushing" people to go to their website and learn more about John 3:16. I don't know about you but I've never been forced to go to any website. Why is it when people talk about Christians the terms shove it down my throat and pushing it are always used? You aren't pushed or shoved into anything, quit making it sound abusive. That does it, the next time Chevy or Papa John's pushes their ad on me to go to Facebook and Like them, I'm not going to take it.
Priests have been pushing a lot into kids' orifices. Seems to be the Christian way so no wonder it gets flack.
Patty you've got a point there. The only difference is I don't consider those pervs to be Christians. Christians are Believers, not just someone who belongs to the Catholic Church. I know very few Catholic Believers.
Go to Mathew Ch 6 where it tells the supplicant to go to his room, SHUT THE DOoR and then pray, not in some stupid public expression on a football field. There is a Latin expression; Nola tuba canere ante te. Loosely translated; Don't go blowing your own trumpte.
Being an Alabama fan I have never liked Tebow but, the man has a right to pray anywhere he wants to. He's not hurting anybody, he's not asking people around him to pray, he just does it when he feels like it and has guts enough to do it no matter what others think. The media is the one blowing it out of proportion not him. I give him respect for that.
What is the point of the article? Random and really no point is made......Basically he says John 3:16 is a popular verse seen at events and a crazy person once used it all the time....
Frightened people clinging desperately to a bronze age myth in hopes that they can somehow avoid death.
Grow up....you're goinng to die and there's nothing you can do about it so live your life the best you can.
I think the point of John 3:16 is that physical death is not the end. Many people believe in some type of afterlife...the question for all of us is what does it look like, and how is it attained.
What if believers are right and you are wrong? If you are right and we are wrong, there is no harm, but if you are wrong – SCARY!
Luke 6: 5-6.
Belief means do what Christ said to do as in believe that we will be blessed if we do. Unfortunately the bible was changed so many times we only read about repentance a few times. Whereas the Book of Mormon has hundreds of references to repentance. The Second witness of Christ proves the first is true and thankfully Joseph Smith was commanded to retranslate the bible, with a third grade education mind you, and now we have the words back that were taken out by whoever had the record and felt like changing it.
Bill please. The book of mormom has nothing to do with the Bible. Revelation said if you add to or take away from these words you are cursed. Be careful my friend in what you believe. I have spoken to many of your mormon missionaries and I have not meet one who would not go to war and kill his brother. In fact many of them join the marines after their stint at preaching. How do you think a God of love would tolerate a religion that kills their brothers?
Bill thanks for pointing out that Joseph Smith only had a third grade education. He was also only 14 years old when he met an Angel of Light who revealed this stuff to him. The only Angel of Light mentioned in the Bible is Satan. It says he will appear as an Angel of Light and try to deceive you. Guess who got deceived?
John 3:16 is probably the most misused and misunderstood verse in the New Testament. The word world here does not refer to mankind in the Greek mss. And it is the same word as used in John 3:19, although most folks who misuse 3:16 never bother to scroll down a few verses.
http://www.redshoe.com/redshoe/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=107&Itemid=194
I'm not sure where you get your information, but the Greek word here used is 'ko'smon' does actually refer to mankind as verse 19 indicates. However you are right in that is one of the most misunderstood verse in the Bible. It's just not believing, but involves exercising faith, literally "believing into him". So it involves being like Jesus, a Christian must follow in his footsteps. 1 Pet 2:21
No one is perfect, but the minute others admire & applaud a sports stars for having faith in something and moral values that he/she tries to live by, people get all offended and go out of their way to criticize (as shown in this article). On the other hand, it's perfectly fine to admire & applaud those living their lives like complete idiots with no regard for anyone but themselves and the game. Our priorities as a nation are so twisted. We put way too much faith in those in the spotlight as it is, regardless of the content of their character.
What are you talking about? Peoples love and faith in celebrity is somthing that is centuries, if not more, old and cuts aross almost every culture that has ever existed so it's hardly a problem with just this nation.
I see your point mendrys. My point wasn't to say that this isn't an issue in other nations; however, no one can deny that with the media as it is here (and taking into account the increased speed and availability of that media), these issues are significantly worsened when compared with many other countries.
Hilarious. God is a horrible invention humanity made.
So humans and the universe just came out of no where? cant get a creation without a creator
Eddie 8:69
Did you know that the science developed by Einstein was used to create the Atomic Bomb? We should get rid of science.
Moron.
Did you know that the Science developed by Einsteinm, and Einstein, were created by God? Col 1:16 and 17.
OK, so now I get it. this is the verse that says that all Jews, Moslems, Hindus etc go to hell. What a wonderfully comforting thought that is. Yet more evidence that religion breeds hate and killing more than anything else
Hey Ben......that isn't what this verse is saying at all....it is saying that God love the world so much that he gave his son as a sacrifice for our sins and that all who believe in Jesus will not perish – but will have eternal life....that means that guys like you along with the entire world, whether muslim, jewish, or any other religion have the opportunity to accept Jesus as saviour and Lord.....to acknowledge him as the only way to heaven.....so what would on the surface sound exclusive is actually inclusive of all people.......believing in Jesus to save....now the choice and how you react to that is up to you.......
@Meade21 If a Muslim or Jew accepts Jesus as their savior in order to get into heaven and not get sent to hell to be tortured forever they are no longer a Muslim or a Jew (in faith that is) but a Christian. The reply "Of course, that is not what it means, they still have the choice to change their religion in order to escape eternal damnation" is meaningless because the implication stays the same, If they continue to practice any other religion other than Christianity (and in some peoples views, only certain strains of Christianity) then they will be tortured for the rest of eternity.
wow i never knew the origin of this john 316 bs. sounds appropriate tho. a fanatical, kidnapper who loves JC started it? perfect! religion is a fraud people!
One day, I will end religion.
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One day, you might get a boyfriend, if your lucky and don't show off you crazy atheist ideals. Some may agree to follow no path, blindly living a life that has no meaning, but all I have to say to those people is don't bring us down with you. It won't change our faith so you can stop spewing out nonsense about how you are going to end religion. Oh, and does that make you the prophet of atheist? Quite a bit of irony there.
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Hi, you are actually right, believe it or not. According to the Bible book of Revelation, Religion as represented by the Harlot called Babylon the Great will be destroyed by the political nations but at Gods instigation. That is appropriate as Religion including Christian has misrepresented him for centuries. Instead of loving their brothers as Jesus said they hate them and kill them. Instead of worshipping in spirit and truth they use idols. They have taken God's name from the Bible which is Jehovah if anyone is interested. They have also taught that a God of love will burn those he hates in Hell Fire. What terrible lies and not supported in the Bible. He will bring those who teach such lies to account and have them wiped from the face of the earth.
One day, your mom bore a moron.