Jesus

Question 1

what’s the significance of Johns gospels ?

Answer 1

Johns gospels were written last with many believing that its purpose was to write a gospel that taught a theology of Jesus rather than a literal account of Jesus’ life like Mathew,Marks and Lukes did

Question 2

what are Johns gospels structured around?

Answer 2

• 7 key miracles stories eg feeding the 5000,walking on water and turning water into wine
• 7 ‘I am’ statements that Jesus makes

Question 3

what’s the significance of Jesus’ ‘I am’ statements ?

Answer 3

it is the name god gives himself in the story of Moses so when Jesus says ‘I am’ he is calling himself God (divine nature)

Question 4

significance of miracles ?

Answer 4

were seen as a display of Gods power working through Jesus as teaching tools to make a point about who he is
- often healed outcast showing his ministry for all, ‘daughter your faith has healed you’ healed bleeding woman
- Jesus miracles are presented as having a unique power and significance
- Jesus’ miracles include the forgiveness of sins, something that was thought only God could do

Question 5

what is the ultimate proof for many christians that Jesus is the son of God?

Answer 5

the resurrection, seeing it as confirmation that Jesus was more than just simply another human and offers eternal life to believers
- John Calvin said,’the resurrection of christ is the most important article of our faith and without it the hopes of eternal life is extinguished

Question 6

mark 14:62 ?

Answer 6

‘I am and you will see the son of man sitting at the right Hand of the mighty one and coming on the clouds of heaven’

Question 7

what was the Arian controversy?

Answer 7

a debate in the early church concerning the nature of christ
- Arius: Jesus was created by the farther and so the farther and the son are not of the same essence
- Athanasius: Jesus and God are of the same essential nature

Question 8

what is the Nicene Creed?

Answer 8

‘we believe in one Lord,Jesus Christ, the only son of God, eternally begotten of the farther,God from God, light from light, true God from true and begotten not made’
first ecumenical (worldwide church) in the year 325

Question 9

John Hicks (liberal christian) view on Jesus’ position ?

Answer 9

considers Jesus to be a human who was open to Gods presence
- but believes Jesus’ divinity was instead an invention of the early church rather than of Jesus himself, we should regard as ‘a son of god’ rather than ‘the on son of god’

Question 10

Rudolf Bultmanns’ view on Jesus and the Gospels?

Answer 10

argues that there are elements in the Gosples that cannot make sense to people of a modern worldwide view, they are product of the time at which the bible was written which creates a barrier to faith for modern people
- its necessary to demythologise the bible (removing mythical elements to concentrate more on the core messages of the Gospels

Question 11

NT Wrights views on Jesus?

Answer 11

believes that Christian beliefs of Jesus are relevant to modern life and miracles are possible and faith should not be kept private
- noting that in the pattern of resurrection found in the life of Jesus did not have strong roots in the dominant Jewish of Greek cultures of the time,inteased it was suprising
- the fact that the Jesus movement survived is evidence of the truth of Christian belief since movements of other ‘failed Messiah’s disbanded

Question 12

JD Crossan’s view on Jesus?

Answer 12

sceptical of accounts of Jesus as an all-powerful son of God, also sceptical of taking the Gosples at face value as they reached there final form 30 years after Jesus’ death
- Crossan attempts to construct a ‘historically accurate’ view of Jesus by focusing on stories shared between different gospels
- this leads him to argue that these sources do not present Jesus as having a miraculous birth or resurrection but as a teacher of wisdom with an emphasis on social justice, highlighting Jesus as a social revolutionary

Question 13

what does it mean to be a teacher of wisdom?

Answer 13

at the time of Jesus it was recognised as being a spiritual occupation, wisdom being about restoring balance to society

Question 14

how does the bible portray Jesus as teaching about morality?

Answer 14

• through collections of sayings eg the Sermon on the Mount
• through parables eg the Prodigal Son

Question 15

what does Jesus teach during Sermon on the Mount?

Answer 15

• the need for repentance and forgiveness, ‘for this son of mine was dead and is alive again’ ‘farther I have sinned against heaven and you’
• the importance of inner purity and the rights motivation, ‘I am no longer worthy to be called you son’ ‘your farther who is unseen will, who sees what is done in secret will reward you’

Question 16

Ludwig Wittgensteins opinion on Jesus as a teacher of wisdom?

Answer 16

thought the truth and authority of Christianity comes through offering an example of living as honestly and authentically as possible
- he was impressed by Jesus’ commitment to the truth, his courage to speak and his simple life with acceptance of death
- his views were changed by Jesus from being about what could have been scientifically proven to the way of finding an authentic way of life

Question 17

what was the political context during the time of Jesus?

Answer 17

the ruling power in Israel was the romans, the religious authorities often had a political dimension

Question 18

who were the Pharisees?

Answer 18

populist pressure group who aimed to live in the holyest purity so tried to make ancient religion real life.Wanted to keep people if Israel ‘special’ to maintain distinctive jewish identity so strictly followed the Torah

Question 19

who were the Sadducees?

Answer 19

based in Surilism,from which priests were drawn from as a powerful, aristocratic group who maintained the status gvo and helped the romans maintain peace

Question 20

who were the Zealots?

Answer 20

revolutionaries willing to go to violent means to get rid of romans

Question 21

how does the gospel portray Jesus as a political liberator?

Answer 21

‘daughter your faith has healed you’
Jesus healed a bleeding woman (viewed an unclean, not accepted) so his refusing to confirm to religious expectation and the pharisees shows his liberation

Question 22

how did Jesus challenge the religious authority?

Answer 22

• used hate groups such as samaritans as examplars
• appeared to preach equally to foreigners as to Jews
• gave alternative explanations of well-established teachings
• performed miracles on apparent outcasts
• included the marginalised in his group of followers

Question 23

what is liberation theology?

Answer 23

• a movement that grew up In South America as a response to poverty and the ill treatments of ordinary people
• said the church should derive its legitimacy and theology by growing out of the poor so the bible should be read and experienced from the perspective of the poor

Question 24

how did nuns and priests show solidarity with the poor ?

Answer 24

moved from religious houses into poverty stricken areas to share the living conditions of their flock

Question 25

what’s social sin?

Answer 25

collective effect of many

Question 26

what’s structural sin ?

Answer 26

personal sins which create environments of hostility and harm, occurs when social sin becomes embedded in unfair laws and structures within society

Question 27

what did liberation theologian Gustavo Gutierrez say ?

Answer 27

• liberation from selfishness and sin on a personal level to restore relationships with God and others
• liberation from social sin to restore the dignity of people
• liberation on a political and social level to free them from the laws that entrap people