RE DCT: Person of jesus (foundations)

Question 1

what is natural and revealed knowledge of God’s existence?

Answer 1

natural knowledge: knowing god through our powers of reasoning

revealed knowledge: god reveals himself through the scriptures, and through the person of jesus Christ.

Question 2

what did john calvin say about the sensus divinatis?

Answer 2

• everyone has an inbuilt sense of God
• god has ensured that each one of us has a sense of god.
• no-one will be able to say on judgement day that they were ignorant of god’s presence.
• he backed it up by saying that there’s never been a civilisation without a religious aspect.
• we can not tell that jesus is god’s son from our senses, this knowledge is revealed.

Question 3

what did the cathecisms say which supported our innate sense of god?

Answer 3

‘the desire for god is written in the human heart, because man was created by god and for god’

Question 4

what evidence/arguments are there to support natural knowledge of god?

Answer 4

• every culture on earth has a sense of religion. they have different beliefs but there’s a religious side to every culture
• no experience is truly satisfying, we’ve felt happiness but we don’t know what makes us truly happy. people of faith say that it’s a symptom for our desire for god and what is truly fulfilling.
• we have an inbuilt tendency to do good and avoid evil. the moral sense of duty is a sign of our inbuilt tendency to seek god.

Question 5

how is openness to goodness evidence of our inbuilt knowledge of god’s existence?

Answer 5

• many Christians have an openness to goodness, this shows our inbuilt knowledge of god’s existence.
• joseph butler said that conscience is our god given ability to reason well in order to reach a moral decision
• cardinal newman said that our conscience is the ‘voice of god’. god hasn’t left us alone and we should our conscience as our main source of authority.

Question 6

how is openness to beauty evidence of our inbuilt knowledge of god’s existence?

Answer 6

-our attraction to beauty is part of our desire to know god, which is beauty itself.
-Augustine said that beautiful things on earth are evidence of god’s existence.
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Question 7

how do humans have an intellectual ability to reflect upon and recognise god’s existence?

Answer 7

• it’s possible for a person to recognise god’s existence using their reason only
• however, there are many obstacles in the way of correct use of reasoning
• a number of arguments, such as the ontological argument, for example, attempt to use reason to show the existence of god

Question 8

how is apparent design and the order of nature natural knowledge of god’s existence?

Answer 8

William paley - design:

• watchmaker analogy
• the universe works in order so it must have a designer

otto - the numinous:

• people feel the presence of god
• awe and fascination when witnessing a mountain range or childbirth, for example. it’s the presence of god

Question 9

what are the 2 ways in which god can be known through revealed knowledge?

Answer 9

• the bible

- tradition

Question 10

how can god be known through the bible?

Answer 10

• it’s a supernatural source of truths
• ‘it’s the speech of god as it’s written under the breath of the holy spirit’
• the bible is the supreme source of authority for Christians
• ‘sola scriptura’ - using the bible alone

Question 11

how can god be known through tradition?

Answer 11

• the church passes on from each generation to the next.
• the Christian ideology is passed from generation to generation as a result
• the catholic church believes that there’s a combination of sources to Christian faith, the holy spirit also works with the church to deliver fresh inspiration which can be passed on as a tradition

Question 12

what did karl barth say about fideism?

Answer 12

it’s the view that it is wholly faith that allows a person to be a true believer.

karl barth rejected claims of natural theology because of people agreeing with the german war plan of the first world war.

Question 13

what does calvin’s doctrine of total depravity state?

Answer 13

everything which comes from the natural, fallen human mind is ‘foolish, perverse and insane.’
only by a total renewal can we have a mind which is made whole again.

Question 14

what is Jesus’ authority as the son of god?

Answer 14

-he’s infused with divinity and so he is god in human form.

Question 15

how is Jesus’ divinity expressed in his knowledge of god and miracles?

Answer 15

• he healed a man born blind, for example.

- they’re seen as miraculous and the cathecism is clear that the miracles are signs of Jesus’ divinity.

Question 16

how is Jesus’ divinity expressed in his resurrection?

Answer 16

jesus was crucified on a wooden cross, which was a sign of god’s curse to the people at the time. this showed that jesus had failed.

however:

• we’re god’s creation so only he can give life and take it away.
• jesus died and was raised from the dead.
• therefore, god approves of jesus.

Question 17

what is Jesus’ authority as a teacher of wisdom?

Answer 17

• he teaches people about fulfilling the law, however, this teaching is ambiguous.
• he also went against old testament teachings when he said ‘love your enemy’

Question 18

what was Jesus’ teaching on repentance and forgiveness?

Answer 18

eg. parable of the lost son.

- jesus sais that we should forgive, rather than seek our own rewards. this goes against strict justice.

Question 19

what was Jesus’ teaching on inner purity and moral motivation

Answer 19

• the most important part of an action isn’t the effect, but the inner motive behind the action.
• the widow’s coin - the widow is doing more good than the Pharisees because they’re showing off their wealth. the widow gives a small amount but the motive behind it was good.

Question 20

what was Jesus’ authority as a liberator?

Answer 20

• he liberates the poor and marginalised in the bible.

- liberation theology is the movement which believes that jesus confronted the religious and political authorities.

Question 21

who was Oscar romero and what did he do?

Answer 21

• archbishop of the corrupted san Salvador
• he was appointed by the church because they didn’t think he’d mix religion and politics.
• he spoke up against injustice, he also told the pope about human rights abuses there.
• he was assassinated during mass as people who opposed the government were killed.

Question 22

what did S.G.F. Brandon say about jesus being a political activist?

Answer 22

-he was a political activist but the gospels toned it down to portray him as a pacifist. the idea of jesus as a freedom fighter appeals to certain parts of the world where there’s corruption.

Question 23

why did Gustavo Gutierrez oppose the idea of jesus being portrayed as a pacifist in the bible?

Answer 23

he said that it makes the characters of the gospel fictional stereotypes rather than people we can engage with.

Question 24

explain hick’s pluralist approach to religion

Answer 24

he said that all religions are equally correct when it comes to seeing god. the idea of jesus being in a special relationship with god is too exclusive.

Question 25

which arguments suggest Jesus’ relationship was truly unique (son of god)?

Answer 25

• natural and special revelation: the catholic church argues that god really exists and that we must accept the testimony of the bible.
• karl rahmer: he argues that faithful muslims, hindus etc. are ‘anonymous christians’, they would not speak of themselves as Christian. he argues that the full truth is found in Christianity as jesus is the son of god.
• Raymond brown: when the bible talks about jesus being ‘son of god’, there’s a claim to special divinely inspired authority.
• the catholic church’s position: jesus is THE son of god, he wasn’t made so he’s eternal and shares his identity with god.
• miracles in the gospel: the cathecism states that miracles are a sign of Jesus’ divinity.

Question 26

how did jesus think of himself as divine?

Answer 26

• jesus refers to himself as divine in the gospel of john

- the cathecisms say that miracles are signs of Jesus’ divinity.

Question 27

how did jesus not think of himself as divine?

Answer 27

• the gospel of john isn’t a straightforward account of what jesus said.
• christs agony on the cross shows people how human he really was.
• he may have only thought of himself as a teacher or a political liberator.

Question 28

what did john hick say about Jesus’ concern with purity?

Answer 28

teachers of wisdom are gifts to the world and only when the supernatural elements of Jesus’ life are reinterpreted as symbols of his close relationship with god will Christianity be able to enter a full dialogue with other religions.