The person of jesus Flashcards
Did Jesus think he was divine?
Yes -
- In Luke 2, young Jesus is lost in a temple. When found, he says, ‘didn’t you know I had to be in my father’s house’?
- The earliest tradition in the new testament, Paul’s letters, assume Jesus is divine
- Jesus didn’t want to overwhelm his audience and so kept his divine actions secret.
No -
- We cannot use the Gospel evidence to show Jesus thought he was divine. The stories speak of a radical preacher who was human
- The clearest claims of Jesus’ divinity come from john’s gospel which was written later, and so may have been added by other writers
- Jesus understood himself as a phrohpet and messianic figure. The old testament did not suggest the Messiah would be divine
Jesus was only a teacher of wisdom
Yes -
- Jesus came to change jewish practices but all he did was reform Judaism through challenging the religious leaders at the time
- Wittgenstein said Jesus gained his authority from his role as a teacher
- Some theologists reject all supernatural elements that could have been added after jesus’ life. This leaves only a teacher for some.
- Miracles and the resurection can be rejected
No
- Some may argue it is wrong to see jesus as only a teacher as this loses sight of Jesus’ purpose as the son of God - to save humanity
- It is wrong to put an individual in one category. Jesus had many roles in his lifetime
- Jesus taught about too many different things to place him in such a narrow category
Jesus was more than a political liberator
Yes
- Jesus the liberator was not just political but also the politics caused by wrong interpretation of religion. He was a spiritual liberator too
- Jesus liberated human beings first - he freed outcasts from being shunned, and freed people being tied to sin by giving his life on the cross
- Jesus was also a teacher and divine miracle worker
No
- In Jesus’s time, ‘politics’ refered to religious aswell as political aspects, so when he liberated people spiritually, in some ways he was liberating them politically.
- When jesus liberated people he did so because society and politics made life worse for them
- It was ultimately Jesus’ political presence and impact that had him killed.
Jesus’ relationship with God was unique
Yes-
- By the end of the first century, as seen in john’s gospel, Jesus’ divinity was clearly assumed.
- Jesus’ miracles demonstrated the power of God unlike any other
- Jesus forgave sins in a way only God could
- Jesus, according the the Gospels was born to the virgin mary who became pregnant on the message from an angel
No - It was just very special
- The earliest gospels downplay Jesus’ divinity - if it were true they would have said more about it
- Jesus had a close relationship with god, calling him ‘abba’ when he prayed
Christology from above vs from below
Above;
- Focus on Jesus’ divinity
- Known as high christology
- Relies on faith, cannot be proven
Below;
- Focus on Jesus’ message, teaching and the example he sets
- How people respond to Jesus and the way it helps them develop
- Known as low christology
What did jesus think he was?
- If jesus thought he was fully human, how can we claim he knew he was God’s son?
- Perhaps Jesus is fully human and fully god
- In exodus, God reveals his identity as ‘I am who I am’, and jesus used similar statements in John’s gospel.
- Jesus knew he was special from the start, however, Jesus says ‘the father is greater than I am’, suggesting Jesus is powerful but not as powerful as God
Nestorius
Christ’s divine and human natures were completely separate. Humanity and divinity come together when Jesus’ will becomes one with God’s. Jesus is fully human. God sends powers when needed.
Apollinarius
Incarnation means that God’s will replaced Jesus’ human reason. He experienced suffering, but could not sin as he had no internal conflict
Doetic Christians
Incarnation involved God only appearing to assume human flesh. He is still fully God
Evidence of Jesus as the son of God
- Redemption and creation miracles
- Resurection as a miracle
- Doubting Thomas
Redemption and creation miracles
- High and low christian theologists support miracles as a sign of salvation
- E.g, healing of the man who was born blind
- Mark 6 : 47 - 52 Jesus walks on water
- The creation miracle (god making the universe)
Resurrection as a miracle
- Jesus’ ressurection was witnessed by many and marked a ‘new era’
- A unique sign of God’s accomplishment
Doubting Thomas
- When Jesus was resurrected, he looked different than before.
- Thomas didnt really believe it was Jesus, however jesus had wounds which he told Thomas to touch
- Jesus’ body was not just transformed spiritually, but also allows the experience of the presense of God
- ‘Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe’
The prodigal Son
- A man had two sons, one responsible and one rebellious
- The rebellious son runs away with his inheritence, wastes it, and has to end up coming back to his father
- When he returns, the responsible son is angry because the father is happy to see him, and gives him a celebration
- However the father tells the good son that they must celebrate the lost son coming back
- Demonstrates forgiveness as Jesus’ key teaching
Jesus as the living word
- Wittgenstien argues that Jesus’ authority is derived from him as a teacher of wisdom
- Jesus enbodied spiritual and moral, and so was the living word. ‘The word became flesh and dealt among us’
