Jesus Christ

Question 1

What are three ways in which authority works?

Answer 1

• In the sense of someone who is more experienced and has a greater understanding of life and the world
• Someone who is highly skilled and knowledgeable in their field and can teach others
• Transferred by proxy from one person to another

Question 2

What are three main areas in which Jesus is said to have authority?

Answer 2

Teacher of Wisdom and Morality; Moral example of Jesus in developing Jewish Ethics
Liberator; His actions changed the political and religious authorities and tackled social issues of his day
Son of God; Innate relationship with God allowed him to carry out his Will on earth and bring about salvation

Question 3

How did Wittgenstein begin to see Jesus as a teacher of Wisdom?

Answer 3

• Wittgenstein read Leo Tolstoys ‘Gospel in Brief’ and was won over by the character of Jesus Christ
• For him Jesus’ authority came from him being a teacher of wisdom and the notion that authority laid not in the promise of the afterlife but in living an honest life
• Wittgenstein thus moved away from his initial notion of language and instead adopted the function of language to be a ‘form of life’ as a way of living
• For Witt Jesus was not abstract but the ‘living word’ , an embodiment of external moral and inner spiritual life

Question 4

What is the debate surrounding Jesus’ moral teaching?

Answer 4

• Whether he was a moral reformer or if he was revolutionary in regard to the practice of the Torah
• Asks the question of how different Jesus’ moral teaching was from Judaism and what made his teaching authoritative?

Question 5

What is Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount?

Answer 5

• Found in Matthew, Jesus longest discourse on Ethics
• The Gospel presents Jesus as the new Moses going up a mountain to receive and deliver the law

Question 6

Quote Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and why is this ambiguous?

Answer 6

“I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil”
- Was Jesus referring to the Torah, and to the fact that religious leaders were not practicing the Torah, so he was a reformer bringing it back to its original purpose?
- Or did he think the Kingdom of God would arrive and replace the Torah, so his teaching was preparation from radical departure from old moral order?

Question 7

What is repentance how does this link to Jesus as a teacher of wisdom?

Answer 7

• In his announcement of the Kingdom of God, repentance was central
• Greek word is ‘metanoia’ and refers to a radical change of mind-set or heart
• It is more than saying sorry, it is a desire to change a whole way of life

Question 8

How does Jesus show forgiveness and repentance through the Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32) ?

Answer 8

• The son had squashed his inheritance on a selfish and frivolous lifestyle
• He realises the only option is to go to his fathers house and beg for mercy
• The Parable emphasises how hard it is to forgive, the father welcomes the son with joy whereas the older brother does not; he is not condemned as it is noted how hard true forgiveness is
• Jesus said a sin should be forgiven ‘seven times seven’ (Matthew) - as long as it takes
• Forgiving others is at the heart of Jesus’ prayer (Lords Prayer) where it is associated with cancelling debts, literally and metaphorically

Question 9

How does Jesus emphasise for people to have good motive and inner purity? (teacher of wisdom) ?

Answer 9

• He admired only the Pharisees who were trying to achieve spiritual righteousness
• He taught that the aim was to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees and morality was about developing character and rigorous analysis of oneself

Question 10

Give examples in the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus teaching good motive and inner purity? (Quote)

Answer 10

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect”
- By checking anger, you avoid murder
- By checking lust, a person does not commit adultery

Question 11

How did Jesus promote personal responsibility on the day of the Sabbath?

Answer 11

• The sabbath was one of the ten commandments and permitted everyone a day free from labour
• Jesus found that the Pharisees and Lawyers were using it as an excuse to fall behind on their religious duties through the 39 definitions of work they put forward
• Jesus said the ‘sabbath was made for humankind not humankind for the sabbath’
• He forbade the fact that an Ox could be fed but a wounded person could not be treated
• Jesus healed people despite the possibility of the death penalty

Question 12

What did Jesus show by breaking the rules of the Sabbath?

Answer 12

• Morality requires personal responsibility, he called the Pharisees ‘blind guides’
• Religious practices serve human needs
• Being holy is through purity of the mind

Question 13

Why do scholars such as John Hick favour the idea of Jesus as a teacher of wisdom?

Answer 13

• Seeing him as a teacher of wisdom strips him of all the unscientific things, e.g miracles he performed, and leaves us with a teacher of the moral life
• Hick describes all teachers of wisdom from all religions as ‘gifts to the world’ and this shows how as a teacher of wisdom Jesus is not the only means to the truth
• Supernatural elements of Jesus’ life are seen as symbols and this promotes inter-faith dialogue

Question 14

What is the problem of Jesus JUST being a teacher of wisdom?

Answer 14

• It is not then straightforward to give Jesus any sort of special authority
• If his teachings can be found through others then there is nothing unique about it and has no reason to be adopted any more than anyone elses moral teaching

Question 15

How is Jesus seen as a liberator?

Answer 15

• Scholars view Jesus’ teaching of the Kingdom of God as a call to restructure society as it is now

Question 16

How does SGF Brandon represent Jesus as a liberator of the poor?

Answer 16

• He develops his study through ‘Jesus and the Zealots’
• He argues that Jesus was a politically driven freedom fighter
• It was only the later passages in the Gospels that toned it down and re-wrote to make him seem like a pacifist

Question 17

Where were Brandons arguments popular?

Answer 17

• In parts of the world where there has been class antagonism and exploitation
• During civil war and exploitation of the poor in Latin America, Liberation Theologians were inspired in the Zealot presentation of Jesus
• They were tired of the pacifist view of Jesus and found that he was not a neutral character but his actions were biased towards the poor and exploited
• The liberation theologians describe this as the ‘underside of History’

Question 18

How do Liberation Theologians develop the notion of Jesus as a liberator?

Answer 18

• They saw Jesus’ bias towards the marginalised as preferential option for the poor
• “Christ the liberator seeks… social and political liberation” - Leonardo Boff
• RC priest Camilo Torres Restrapo joined the guerillas and exclaimed that Jesus would too if he were alive

Question 19

How did Jesus liberate the marginalised?

Answer 19

• He often mixed with ‘people of the land’, illiterate farmers who were uneducated and largely did not know much of the Torah
• Jesus thus frequently used these sinners as examples of the moral life rather than the leaders of religious institutions

Question 20

How does Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan show liberation for the marginalised?

Answer 20

• A man is beaten up and left for dead
• Two Jewish officials fail to attend to the man, fearing that if they touch him they would become unclean
• The Samaritan however attends to teh man, despite dismissing religious rules
• He instead carries out the central commandment to love God with al your heart and ‘your neighbour as yourself’ - Luke
• The Samaritan treats the mans wounds and pays for him to stay at a local inn
• Jesus shows the prejudice of some peoples consciousness and shows liberation requires a change

Question 21

What other table fellowship did Jesus keep showing him as a liberator?

Answer 21

• Kept table-fellowship with tax-collectors, prostitutes and thieves as well as the Pharisees
• Jesus’ deliberate rejection of the ritual driven fellowship of the Pharisees is a symbol of his phrase that ‘the last shall be first and the first last’ in the Kingdom of God

Question 22

Is Jesus just a liberator?

Answer 22

• Some see his role as not political but spiritual
• When Jesus was arrested at the Garden at Gethsemane he scolds his disciple for drawing a sword (Matthew)
• If Jesus was a political revolutionary leader him and disciples would have been arrested
• Jesus resists being called messiah or King - feeding of Multitude (John) when Jesus sees that they want to make him a King he withdraws to the mountain by himself

Question 23

How was Jesus seen as the Son of God?

Answer 23

• He was seen as the one who was carrying out Gods will on earth
• He was to set to arrive and free Israel spiritually, morally and politically

Question 24

How does Christology help us understand Jesus as the Son of God?

Answer 24

• Refers to Jesus’ relationship with God
• Christology from above refers to Jesus’ divinity and Gods act of bringing humanity back into relationship with him - relies on faith
• Christology from below focuses on Jesus’ message and Salvation focuses on how people respond to Jesus the way this helps to develop their relationship to God and the world

Question 25

How does Knowledge of God show Jesus as the Son of God?

Answer 25

• High Christology has the problem of claiming Jesus was the Son of God and also fully human
• In Johns Gospel Jesus says ‘I am’ a number of times, just as God did in Exodus

Question 26

Quote Jesus in Johns Gospel and explain how this shows he is the Son of God

Answer 26

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”
- Jesus expresses his unique relation with God the Father is the only means to salvation - he also says ‘The Father and I are one’
- However he also says that ‘The Father is greater than I’, acknowledging his limitations as a human

Question 27

Miracles to show Jesus as the Son of God

Answer 27

• Disciples in the OT had performed miracles but these were attributed to the work of God acting for them
• In Marks Gospel Jesus had ordered a great storm on the Sea of Galilee to be calm and brought disciples to safety - it was unsure of what type of person could do this
• Jesus performed miracles at every stage of life on earth, with disciples accepting ‘the mighty works’ and confirming his divinity and status as the son of God

Question 28

How do those of Low Christology interpret Jesus’ miracles?

Answer 28

• They interpret them as as indicators of special moments of insight into teaching of the nature of the Kingdom of God
• They are like parables, dramatic signs to illustrate teaching and understanding of God

Question 29

How does Birth and Incarnation show Jesus’ miracles?

Answer 29

• His birth to virgin Mary is seen as a miracle
• It is seen as the point where God becomes fully human, incarnation
• Mary conceives God in human form, leading to her being called God-bearer, theotokos
• For God to restore humans to the Pre-Fallen state he himself had to become human

Question 30

What do Nestorius and Docetic Christians argue about the incarnation of Christ?

Answer 30

• Nestorius Christians argued that the two natures of Christ, divine and human were completely separate and only became one when Jesus’ will was one with Gods will
• Docetic Christians argue that incatrnation God only appeared as human, but was not fully human, he was brought to salvation through his special knowledge of God

Question 31

How does the miracle in John 9:1-41 show Jesus’ miracle as a sign of salvation?

Answer 31

• Jesus heals a man who is born blind
• The focus of the story is not on how he receives sight but rather the contrast between the mans gradual faith as ‘seeing’ and understanding of Jesus as the bringer of salvation
• Emphasises the inability of those who have sight but are blind to the truth of his teaching

Question 32

How does the miracle in Mark 6:47-52 show Jesus’ miracle as a sign of salvation?

Answer 32

• Jesus walking on water is a reminder of how Gods spirit hovered over waters of chaos in the creation of the world to bring order and beauty out of it
• Salvation thus applies to not only the God-human relationship but rather the relationship to the whole of nature

Question 33

How does Jesus’ resurrection confirm his divinity?

Answer 33

• St Paul describes Jesus’ resurrection as the ‘first fruits’ of the harvest
• This metaphor resembles the idea that it is now possible that all creation can be brought to completion by God
• Even Scholars who viewed Jesus as a human can see that resurrection is a decisive moment that reveals him as the Son of God

Question 34

How does Wolfhart Pannenberg argue Jesus’ resurrection is a unique sign of Gods completion?

Answer 34

• He argues that it is a unique sign of Gods completion and perfection of creation at the end of time
• It ‘visibly and unambiguously’ reveals him as God
• “Jesus’ resurrection is God revealed in him”

Question 35

How does the story of doubting Thomas (John 20:24-29) show that resurrection was an experience of Gods presence?

Answer 35

• It is a religious experience which allows Jesus Christ as Lord who can be worshipped as God without committing blasphemy
• Resurrection acts as the deciding event that allows the authority of proclaiming Christ is the Son of God
• He lets St Thomas put his hands where Jesus was marked to the cross and Thomas said “My Lord and My God!”

Question 36

What does E.P Sanders argue?

Answer 36

• Argues that there is no way that Christian claims about the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as Son of God can ever be substantiated from evidence of history alone
• He argues history and faith are separate categories
• Sanders argues that Jesus’ miracles, teaching on non-violence and teaching of Gods grace make him different from those at the time, but not entirely unique
• Resurrection’s significance is not accounted for as it belongs to subjective category of faith and not history

Question 37

What has E.P Sanders not considered?

Answer 37

• He has not considered the significance of resurrection
• Resurrection is seen as a decisive moment and reveals Christs divinity
• However some merely see this as a metaphor of Christian hope

Question 38

What is the view of John Macquarrie?

Answer 38

• He argues for the notion that any moment in Jesus life made him uniquely the son of God
• What was significant was his place in history as a whole
• The whole view of Jesus’ life and its place in history is known as the Christ-event
• Meaning of his life is not found in one moment but rather is found in the entire understanding of human existence, there is no exclusive defining moment

Question 39

Quote John Macquarrie

Answer 39

“authentic personal and communal existence”
- He does not think Christ is just another leader but rather Christ defines what it means to live an authentic human experience
- For each individual he becomes ‘the way and the truth and the life’

Question 40

Jesus: Heals a Sick Woman (liberator)

Answer 40

• She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. 28 For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately the bleeding stopped
• Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”