Personhood of Jesus Christ

Question 1

what parable shows jesus as a teacher of forgivness and what is the story ?

Answer 1

parable of the prodigal son - a son is given his inheritence early and leaves his father to spend it recklessly he then returns home fearing his fathers response and even offers to be a servent to his father. His father turns him down and goes to him with open arms, forgiving him.

Question 2

what is the sermon on the mount and what does it show?

Answer 2

in the sermon jesus teachers his followers to strive beyond the jewish laws and focus on moral development and fullfillemt. he even says it is not enough for a man to not commit adultery because he who looks at a woman with lust has already sinned. This shows jesus as a teacher of inner purity and moral motivation.

Question 3

what did hick say about how jesus’ life should be interpretated?

Answer 3

hick describes Jesus’ teachings as gifts to the world and when they can be intepretated as symbolic christianity can enter a full diologue with other religions.

Question 4

define christology

Answer 4

the nature of God and jesus’ relationship

Question 5

what does metanoia mean

Answer 5

a radical change in mindset or change a whole new way of life through jesus sermon on the mount he proposed metanoia

Question 6

Arguments for Jesus as a divine teacher

Answer 6

yes …
his teachings are only meaningful if he was God incarnate. His teachings on forgiveness are a sign of his divine authority to forgive
jesus gives teachings on eschatology including parousia , kingdom of God and judgement. How could he know this if he isnt God
Bonhoeffer argues Jesus should be understood as God incarnate because when we help the opressed the call to act morally and Gods nature are bound together.

Question 7

how could reuther argue God is a divine teacher of Wisdom

Answer 7

wisdom of God is a feminine noun ‘sophia’ and when jesus is refered to as logos this is the masculine version

Question 8

was jesus a human teacher …

Answer 8

yes…
Dawkins –> ‘jesus was a great moral teacher’ he was admirable but overshadowed by worship
jesus was just a rabi with a special message –> this wasnt unsual for his time
nietzche argues the power and authority of jesus’ moral teachings lies within his usefullness to aid people live a good life
hick –> ‘myth of God incarnate’ without incarnation Jesus is just a moral man who lived an exemplorary life and continues to influence people.

Question 9

what were wittgensteins view on jesus as a teacher ?

Answer 9

he believed jesus was a human teacher and felt spiritually alive after reading tolstoys he believed jesus was a teacher of wisdom and admired his commitment to the truth of life. his teachings were valuable as they taught about the ‘living earth’ not just eschatology.

Question 10

how was jesus a teacher of forgivness and repentance ?

Answer 10

he gave many storys to explain the importance of forgiveness for example the parable of the prodigal son in which he describes a father and two sons the sons ask for their inheritence early the father obeys and the son spends the money recklessly. He then returns to his father with regret and offers to be a servant to his father in which his father responds saying no and welcomes him home with open arms.

Question 11

how was jesus a teacher of innner purity and moral motivation ?

Answer 11

in the sermon on the mount jesus teahes his followers to strive beyond the jewish laws and focus on moral motivation. He says that it is not enough to not commit adultery a man who even looks at a woman with lust has already sinned. jesus also tells neighbours to ‘turn the other cheek’ suggesting we should keep forgiving and morally developing.

Question 12

what was rule like in the 1st century ?

Answer 12

people lived under roman occupation in the north through a king and in the south under roman procurator ponitus pilate.

Question 13

what happened in AD 73 ?

Answer 13

revolt, jerusalem temple burnt and millions died the zealots lead the revolt who wanted violent revolution. jews hoped God would send a military messiah

Question 14

how was jesus a liberator ?

Answer 14

spoke about marginalised groups such as lepers and prostitutes in his parables which were shocking and distasteful at the time. for example the parable of the Good samaritan. he also spoke of treating the poor as you would you rich neighbours. he critisiced religious authroities ofr not valuing human life and said anyone should be helped. he made tax collectors turn from their life styles and follow him. publically he even entered jerusalum on a donkey suggesting he could bring about peace where he couldnt.

Question 15

reasons for jesus as a liberator

Answer 15

reza aslan , jesus had collections and with zealots his desiples even had names such as simon the zealot and judas iscariot (iscarill = dagger). jesus followers had weapons such as gethsemane
“ i did not come to bring peace but the sword’
crucified next to two bandits (rebles)

Question 16

problems with jesus as a liberator

Answer 16

rejects violent revalution - those who live by the sword die by the sword and stops disciples using violence
jesus efforts lack conviction in comparison compared to the zealots who lead a revolt in AD 73. (burned a temple) he can be praised for bringing hope and a fresh interpretation of jewish laws but him as a liberator can be questioned
grant argued that the revolution occured 30 years after jesus’ death suggesting he had little influence

Question 17

what were some of jesus’ miracles ?

Answer 17

• defying nature
• exorcism
• healing
• resurrection

Question 18

what is the story of the resurection

Answer 18

it took place three days after jesus was crucified this is because jesus’ crycifixation took place on a friday this is the jewish day of rest, shabbat, in which they rest from sunset on the friday to sunset the next day. due to this jesus was placed in a temporary tomb whilst everyone rested. Four women returned on the sunday to prepare jesus for his official burial however he was not there and the tomb was empty. the women saw a man in the distance of who they thought to be a gardener however when they asked him if he head seen jesus he revealed himself to be jesus.

Question 19

what is the story of doubting thomas?

Answer 19

thomas doesnt believe jesus was resurected so jesus asks him to touch his wounds and he does in which hc says “ oh lord” this shows that the resurection was a physical event not spiritual.

Question 20

evaluate wethere miracles show jesus’ divinity

Answer 20

–>YES there are several acounts of the same events by multiple people such as ‘feeding the five thousand’
–>NO hume–> we cannot trust miracles as we must directly experince them ourselves. we havent experinced anything like this now so why would we believe it. the bible is not a historical text
ockhams razor –> less assumptions is usally correct
sagan ‘ extraordinary claimes require extraordinart’
bultman - we need to demythologise the gospels

Question 21

reasons for the resurection showing jesus divinity

Answer 21

-> barth , the empty tomb is an ‘indispensable sign’ it wasnt a mythical event but a historical event that left a mark on society. its a ‘decision of faith’
theres roman evidence to suggest that followers of jesus already had questions on his divinity suggesting it wasnt added by evengalist writters.
NT Wright –> something drove his followers to stay commited to him even after the embarrasment of his death and without the resurection christianity would never have developed

Question 22

reasons agaisnt the resurection showing jesus divinity

Answer 22

riemarus–> ‘gospel writers were confused or liars’ argued disiples made it up to cover up the embarsament after his death especially after palm sunday
schweizer –> stole and hid the body
lessing –> we should have a sceptical attitude towards the ressurection since we dont have first hand experince of it happening. the chronological distance makes it hard for us to believe in it and adds to the severrity of doubts as we cant trust the testimony of others.
strauss-> belief in the resurection was filling for its time
bultman–> we cannot make such scientific advancements and believe in the resurection it is a mythical event ‘pure and simple’

Question 23

what is palm sunday ?

Answer 23

is when jesus prophosised by zacharia enters jerusalum triumphantly on a donkey implying he will be the davidic messiah and save everyone.

Question 24

what did the chalcedonian creed state ?

Answer 24

Jesus and the father are consubstantial , made one of one substance. there is a hypostatic union fully God and fully man in a hypostasis.

Question 25

why is it necessary for Jesus to be fully human and fully God?

Answer 25

Jesus needed to die for humans’ sins. In the OT there was a system of salvation and sacrifice, for example, the Egyptians would sacrifice a lamb to mark a cross with its blood on their door so the angel of death wouldn’t enter their home. It is necessary that Jesus was homoosius with that father so that his sacrifice was worthy. Jesus’ blood washed away the sins.

Question 26

Karl Rahner’s onion analogy

Answer 26

Jesus is arguably unaware of his divinity because in order to be human he must be unaware of his future. Rahner likens an onion which has many layers to humans - humans concious outer layer is what theyre aware of but deeper there is the unconcious. This is where jesus’s knowledge of his divinity lies and it was expressed through his miracles and as freud called them ‘slips of the tongue’ or parapraxes.

Question 27

Gerald O’Collins views on Jesus’ divinity

Answer 27

1) debating a person’s consciousness and subjective experience is challenging but more so for a person who didn’t write autobiographical accounts
2) analysing the consciousness of humans is complex and to even know yourself

Question 28

Scripture for Jesus in support of weapons

Answer 28

“I did not come to bring peace, but the sword”
‘IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A SWORD GO SELL YOUR CLOAK AND BUY ONE’

Question 29

WHY IS JESUS NOT A LIBERATOR?

Answer 29

Pope John Paull ll; Jesus actually stopped his disciples from being violent ‘those who live by the sword die by the sword’ he also emphasised peace throughout his teachings
zealots didn’t actually exist until 30 years after his death

Question 30

describe Jesus walking on water.

Answer 30

Matthew
- the disciples went to capernaum and gensare, Jesus was to join them later
- they were in the middle of the alke when Jesus saw them and walked to them on water
- they were scared and thought he was a ghost
- ‘ take courage it is i dont be affraid’
- then peter calls out to him
- Jesus enables peter to walk on water

Not only does he defy his own logic of nature but has the power to enable other people to. Only someone who is homoosius with the father could do this

Question 30

describe jesus healing lepers

Answer 30

luke
-Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy[a] met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
- when he saw them he told them to show themselves to the priests and they did and when teh ywalked away they were cured

Question 31

what is leprosy?

Answer 31

• a bacterial infection
• people who had it were seen as outcasts of society and even had their own homes