God created the universe and everything in it in six days. God rested on the seventh day (Sabbath) and declared it a holy day of rest. God provided the Garden of Eden to the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve. There was only one thing that they were not allowed to do. God told them not to eat from the tree of knowledge, which would make them aware of good and evil. A snake tricked Eve, and she ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge. She then gave Adam some of the fruit, and he ate as well. Because they did not obey him, God made them leave the garden, so all people had to work for their food.
Adam and Eve's first two children were sons, Cain and Abel. Abel was a shepherd and Cain was a farmer. Cain fell into sin and killed his brother Abel out of jealousy, making him the first person to commit murder. (Genesis 4:1–16)
Later, when the world was full of people who were evil, God chose to kill them and save only the animals and the most morally righteous person alive. He told a man, named Noah, to build a huge boat and gather two of every bird, mammal and lizard onto it. He was instructed to take 14, or a pair of 7, of clean animals. Only 2 of each could be unclean. Noah built and filled the boat as he was told, and a flood covered the whole world. After 40 days and nights, the rains stopped. Once the water had receded the boat landed on the mountain of Ararat. God promised never to send another such flood, and he used the rainbow as a sign of that promise.
The people of the world attempted to build a high tower (Tower of Babel) to show the power of mankind and to reach God. God felt insulted and gave people different languages to prevent the tower from ever being finished.
God chose Abram to be "the father of many nations." Abram changed his name to Abraham, and God promised him the land of Canaan (Israel) forever. As a sign of this promise, the sons of Abraham are circumcised. God tested Abraham's loyalty by asking him to kill his son Isaac. Abraham was ready to do it, but God sent an angel to stop him. God told him there would be no more human sacrifice.
God destroyed the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, saving only Abraham's nephew Lot and his daughters.
Isaac and his wife Rebekah had two twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob traded food to Esau for Esau's right to carry the family name. Rebekah helped trick Isaac, who was old and blind, into giving his final blessing to Jacob by dressing him in fur (Isaac felt Jacob's furs and thought he was his hairy twin, Esau). Esau later got a blessing of his own.
Jacob left to find a wife. He found Rachel and worked for her father, Lavan, for seven years to marry her, but was tricked into marrying her sister Leah. He worked for another seven years to marry Rachel. He went back to his home, then moved to Bethel, where God told him to change his name to Israel. Jacob later also marries the servants of Leah and Rachel, whose names are Bilah and Zilpah.
Jacob had twelve sons named Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issaschar, Zebulun, Gad, Dan, Asher, Naftali, Joseph, and Benjamin. His wife Rachel died after she gave birth to Benjamin.
Jacob gave his son Joseph a coat of many colors. Joseph's brothers were jealous, so they sold him into slavery in Egypt. They covered his coat in blood and told their father he had died. Joseph became a great leader in Egypt by predicting a long famine by explaining the pharaoh's dreams. During the famine, his brothers came to Egypt to buy food. They did not know that Joseph was the leader. Joseph first tricked the brothers, but then gave them food and let them stay in Goshen in Egypt.
Jacob blessed his sons and then died.
Joseph (Hebrew Bible)
In the Bible, Joseph was a son of Jacob. Joseph's brothers hated him, because he was their father's favorite son, and his father gave him a coat which was said that it was revealed from heaven. One day they decided to kill him but changed their minds. According to Genesis they sold him as a slave. In Islamic tradition they threw him in a large well that had only a little salt water but when he drank it, by the will of God, it was very sweet. A passing caravan found him and took him as a slave to Egypt.
Joseph became the slave of the chief of the Pharaoh's guards but was put in prison, where he interpreted the dreams of other prisoners. The Pharaoh heard of his power and asked for interpretations of his own dreams. Joseph became the Pharaoh's prime minister. This caused the Israelites to leave Canaan and live in Egypt.
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene is a woman in all four gospels of the New Testament. She became a faithful follower of Jesus after he delivered her from seven demons.
Mary is a saint in the Catholic church. She is remembered on July 22.
Witness
A witness is someone who sees something happen. They are often used in court to help find the truth. During a trial, the two lawyers will bring in witnesses to help back up their arguments.
In a criminal trial, the prosecution lawyer will often bring in the victim of the crime to say what happened, and anyone else who can prove the accused person did the crime. The defense lawyer will nearly always call up the accused person to explain why they are not guilty, and bring in other witnesses who can prove the accused person is not guilty. Each time a lawyer brings in a witness, the other lawyer will "cross examine" the witness - they will ask them questions to make sure they are telling the truth.
Witnesses have to swear to tell the truth during the trial. If a witness lies in court, it is known as "perjury", which is a crime. A witness can be subpoenad, which means they are required to testify in court. If the witness does not testify when given a subpoena, they can be punished.
Corinthians
Corinthians is the name of different things:
Corinth
Corinth is a city in Greece. It gave its name to the Corinth Canal. This is in the middle of the Isthmus of Corinth, a narrow strip of land which joins the Peloponnese peninsula with mainland Greece. It has a castle called the acrocorinth. Corinth is in the north of Peloponnese. It is a coastal city. It had 60,000 people at the 2011 census.
During antiquity, Corinth was one of the most important Greek cities. It was often the opponent of Athens and these two cities competed with each other. It founded many colonies in south Italy and Sicily such as Siracusa. Corinth was conquered by Romans in 146 B.C. Two epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthian Christians are in the Bible.
The modern city of Corinth is about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northeast of the ancient ruins. Since 1896, the Corinth excavations by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens have revealed large parts of the ancient city. Recent excavations by the Greek Ministry of Culture have brought to light important new discoveries.
During Middle Ages, it was an important city with a fortification. In 1460 it came under Turkish rule and it was liberated in 1830, after the Greek War of Independence.
Cross
A cross is a symbol, which is used for many things.
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese is a large peninsula in Greece. It is the part of Greece which is south of the Isthmus of Corinth.
The Peloponnese has many mountains and a long jagged coastline. The highest part is Mount Taygetus in the south.
There are four south-pointing peninsulas within the Peloponnese. They are called Messenia, the Mani Peninsula, Epidaurus, and the Argolid.
There are also two groups of islands near the Peloponnese. In the east there are the Argo-Saronic Islands and in the west there are the Ionian Islands. There is also the island of Kythira, which is near to the Epidaurus peninsula. Kythira is often thought of as part of the Ionian Islands.
The Peloponnese has had people living on it since prehistoric times. Its name means "Island of Pelops". Pelops was a person from Greek mythology, who took over the island. During the Middle Ages and the Ottoman Empire, the peninsula was known as the Morea.
Isthmus of Corinth