Jesus Flashcards
What are the key events of Jesus’ life
Birth - Matthew and Lukes gospel tell of visitors to the newborn
Life and ministry - began his ministry at around 30 after baptism, he developed Jewish teachings and performed miracles
Crucifixion - betrayal of judas and trials leading to crucifixion
Resurrection - rose again on easter sunday
Ascension - was taken up in a cloud to heaven
Jesus as the incarnation
God in the flesh
“Incarnate son” means he is fully god and fully man
He is not just a good human or god in disguise, he is fully god and fully man
Johns gospel
Has unique material - not synoptic
Includes the 7 key miracles and the 7 “I am” sayings - ego eimi - each statement reveals something about his divine nature
Emphasis on symbolism and Jesus’ theology
What are the 7 key miracles in Johns gospel
Turning water to wine
Healing the nobleman’s son
Healing a lame man
Feeding of the 5000
Walking on water
Healing a blind man
Raising Lazarus
What is the Arian controversy
A debate in the early church concerning the nature of Christ
Arius - Jesus was created by and came after the father so are not of the same essence
Athanasius - Jesus and god are of the same essential nature
The Nicene creed
A creed in which the beliefs about Christ were formalised (at a church council in Nicea in year 325)
Jesus is the son of god and is of one being with the father
John Hick
Considers Jesus to be a human who was open to Gods presence and who therefore was able to make others aware of God
The idea of Jesus being divine was made by the church rather than Jesus himself
We should regard Jesus as “a” son of god rather than “the” son of god
Rudolf Bultmann
There are elements of the gospel that cannot make sense to people of a modern worldview
This is a barrier for modern faith people
We need to demythologise the bible removing the mythical elements to focus on the core message of the gospel
NT Wright
By arguing that Christian beliefs about Jesus are irrelevant to modern life we are accepting a worldview that miracles are impossible ad faith should be private
Jesus reinterpreted the idea of the messiah to include a rejection of violence
His teachings were new and surprising and the fact that the Jesus movement survived is evidence of the truth of Christian belief
JD Crossan
Sceptical of Jesus as a son of god and taking the gospels at face value
Crossan attempts to construct a historically accurate view of Jesus by focusing on shared stories in the gospels
He argues that these stories focus on Jesus as a teacher of wisdom with an emphasis on social justice
He highlights Jesus as a social revolutionary who tried to build a community without gender or class distinctions - healings miracles are symbolic of healing of communities
What was a teacher of wisdom
A spiritual occupation about restoring balance to society or to the self
Key attributes that a teacher of wisdom would demonstrate
Teaching of two alternative paths in life
Teaching about morality
Using short pithy statements
Teachings are memorable
Teachings are challenging
Teachings build upon past wisdom in a unique way
Wisdom teachers were often travelling
Wisdom teachers were often spiritual
Sermon on the mount
Matthew 5-7
The longest record of Jesus teachings
CS Lewis
Argues for Jesus as god incarnate and the son of god - if not he would just be a madman
Political landscape at the time of Christ
Religion and politics overlapped much more than they do in the UK today
Religious authorities also had to consider political dimension
What would it mean for Jesus to be a liberator
Challenging political authority
Challenging religious authority
Challenging political authority
This would imply Jesus purpose was to bring in a new political authority
Implies he wanted to overthrow the rule of the romans
At the time the zealots were trying to overthrow the romans through fighting
Many believed that God would send a messiah to lead his people to a new freedom
Challenging religious authority
Would imply that his purpose was to bring in a new system of understanding the Jewish religion
The dominant force within religious understanding were pharisees - scholars and community leaders who had significant influence over political and religious standards
Was Jesus a zealot?
One of Jesus’ disciples was a zealot
His disciples were carrying swords when arrested
Aslan argued the kingdom of god was a call for a regime change - Jesus said “my kingdom is not of this world”
Jesus aimed for peace, love, obedience and consequences - wouldn’t make sense for him to be a zealot
What is liberation theology
A movement that grew up in south America as a response to poverty and ill treatment of ordinary people
Th bible should be read and experienced from the perspective of the poor
Types of sin
Traditional concept of sin - people are responsible for their own personal actions
Social sin - collective effect of many personal sins which create hostility and harm towards people
Structural sin - when social sin becomes embedded in unfair laws and structures within society
How can Jesus liberate from sin
He must include methods of dealing with each type of sin
Gustavo Gutierrez
People need liberation from selfishness on a personal level to restore relationships with God
Liberation from social sin to restore dignity of people (preferential option for the poor)
Liberation on a political and social level to free them from laws that entrap people and cause structural sin
