Jesus essay Flashcards
AO1 Jesus as the son of God?
- Unique birth Luke 2:11 ‘he is the messiah’
- incarnation the moment God decided to become human to be the ultimate mediator, only Jesus can be this mediator as he is God, ‘in the flesh’
- ‘I am’ statements follow greek structure used in OT where ‘I am’ is the revealed name of God, reminds reader who Jesus is at one level whilst also reminding the divine nature
- Jesus’ miracles are a sign of God’s power working through him
- Often Jesus healed outcasts showing his ministry for all + forgave sins (only God can do)
- for many the resurrection is the ultimate proof as the gospels are careful to show continuity between the Jesus who died to the raised christ
- high christiology; this focuses on Jesus’ divinity and God’s act of bringing humanity back into a relationship with him. It relies on faith and not proof.
- low christiology; focuses on Jesus’ message, example and teaching.
Salvation focuses on how people respond to Jesus.
miracles as proof Jesus is the son of God?
Jesus performed a large number of miracles,affecting the lives of a wide variety of people (display of God’s power through Jesus as well as teachings to make a point)
‘who then is that, that even the wind and the seas obey him?’ Mark
❌ other magicians spoke about in gospels BUT Jesus is distinguished from them as his motive is making God be known
- written 35 years after his death, these stores could easily have been embellished
✅Jesus healed outcasts such as woman, jews and foreigners eg healing the bleeding woman Luke 8:43-48:, his ministry was for all
AO2 for Jesus as the son of God?
- Rudolf Bultman belives the bible is a product of its time, it needs to be demythologised in order to hold value (removing mythical elements to focus on important concepts)
- NT Wright think beliefs of Jesus are crucial to modern day life and faith shouldn’t be kept private
- Calvin said ‘the resurrection is the most important article of our faith and without it the hops of eternal life are extinguished.’
❌ - John Hicks believes Jesus’ divinity was a later working of the church, Jesus is a son of god not the son of god
- earliest gospels downplay Jesus’ divinity, if it we true surely they would have spoke more of it and Jesus wouldn’t advise followers to follow him completely as they would never meet him
✅ - by the end of the first century Jesus’ divinity was assumed, more likely that the idea of Jesus being unique was at the earliest branch of christianity
AO1 Jesus as a political liberator ?
- context, ruling power in iseral were the romans
- Jesus often challenged the religious authorities such as the pharisees (populists pressure group)
- Jesus performed miracles on outcasts eg on the bleeding woman, ‘daughter your faith has healed you’
- used hated groups such as the samaritans as exemplars
- viewed foreigners as equals (pharisees wanted to keep Israel pure)
- threatened religious authorities as offered different ideas of kingdom of God as he preached of a time where God would rule, so they would not
- When asked about whether people should pay taxes he said, ‘people should pay back to Caesar what it’s Caesers and to God what is God’s
AO2 of Jesus as a political liberator?
Liberation theologian Gustavo Gutierrez said that liberation had different levels,one of which being liberation from selfishness and sin on a personal level to restore relationships with God and others and liberation on a political level to free people from the laws that entrap them
✅
- Jesus liberated people because society had made life worse for them, ultimately his work was needed because of the political situation
- it was Jesus’ relation with the religious authorities which killed him, if he had not been a political threat they wouldn’t have needed to
❌
- Jesus liberated people because he was the son of God not because of politics
- it wasn’t about politics but how politics Brought by inadequate representation of religion
AO1 Jesus as a teacher of wisdom?
- at the time this was recognised as a spiritual occupation about restoring balance to society or the self
- Jesus taught about morality ; inner purity and moral motivation, criticised authorities for caring more of their religion looked than their morality
- Jesus is concerned with people relations with outsiders
- Jesus taught that reconciliation comes before worship and that outcasts must be drawn back into society
- taught that we must not judge others and forgiveness must be excessive (forgive 70x7 times Matheww 18:21)
AO2 Jesus as a teacher of wisdom?
- Luke 18:9 the Pharisee and the tax collector, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
- Parable of the prodigal lost son, farther still happy to see him after he’s been greedy and ungrateful
- Jesus’ commentary on how to apply the OT law and Torah, laws
- Jesus’ guidance on how to practise genuine religion, ‘rejoice and be glad as great is your reward in heaven’
- JD Crossman believes this is the only explanation for Jesus due to the skeptical accounts of taking the gospel at face value as they reached their final form 30 years after Jesus’ death
- Crossman tries to construct a ‘historically accurate’ view of Jesus from a variety of gospels which 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
✅
- all Jesus did was Reform Judaism through challenging the religious leaders
- Some theologians reject all aspect of scripture with supernatural elements that could have been added after the time of Jesus ,leaving just the story of a wisdom teacher
❌
- can Jesus not be a teacher is wisdom and the son of God?
