The person of Jesus Christ

Question 1

what does the New Testament say about Jesus?

Answer 1

Jesus is God’s only son or own son, implying something unique

Question 2

how is Jesus seen to be uniquely close to God?

Answer 2

Through his baptism and the transfiguration

Question 3

what does Jesus call God?

Answer 3

Abba - Greek for Father or Dad

Question 4

How do the gospels say Jesus came into the world

Answer 4

through the intervention of the holy spirit and mary

Question 5

What COULD be argued about the way Jesus came into the world

Answer 5

the ancient world contained myths of gods producing demigod offspring with humans - they were not gods themselves but had god like powers

Question 6

what does St John write of Jesus?

Answer 6

Jesus is the Word and the Word is God

Question 7

what evidence in the bible is there that Jesus is the son of god?

Answer 7

• jesus is worshipped, something done to a God
• “God’s spirit will come again in Jesus’ name”

Question 8

what view is rejected by the Church at the Council of Chalcedon?

Answer 8

Jesus has two beings inhabiting one body, with one overpowering the other - Jesus is both God and a separate human being

Question 9

The early church declared it a hypostatic union - what is this?

Answer 9

the idea that Jesus is both fully God and fully human

Question 10

why did Jesus have to be divine in order to save humanity from sin?

Answer 10

because only God has the redemptive power

Question 11

why does Jesus being God become problematic in terms of his crucifixion/resurrection?

Answer 11

it would mean he didn’t really suffer on the cross, and did not die from crucifixion - this would mean his resurrection was not real

Question 12

why did Jesus also have to be a human being?

Answer 12

only humans needed saving

Question 13

how did Gregory of Nazianzen describe the conflict of jesus being God/human

Answer 13

“what he has not assumed he has not healed”

Question 14

why would it be an issue if God is both fully human and God

Answer 14

St Paul wrote that humans have a corrupting nature - would Jesus become corrupted?

Question 15

what did Bishop Apollinaris argue

Answer 15

God replaced the human mind and soul with a divine one without taking on fallible human nature

Question 16

how did Gregory of nazianzen argue against appolinaris

Answer 16

said this view constituted a ‘half salvation’

Question 17

what did the first council of nicea reveal in ad325?

Answer 17

jesus was of the same substance as the father, or of one being. he was homoousios

Question 18

what did the council of chalcedon ad451 affirm?

Answer 18

christ is acknowledged in two natures, which come together in one person and one hypostatis. he was not a mix or blend

Question 19

what did the council of chalcedon note as the central importance

Answer 19

that it is acknowledged that jesus is both truly divine and truly human

Question 20

which events signal that Jesus had emotion, just like humans?

Answer 20

his anxiety in the garden of gethsemane and his tears at the death of lazarus

Question 21

what did medieval theology suggest three kinds of knowledge that Jesus must have?

Answer 21

-scientia visionis (knowledge of the divine reality)
-scientia infusa (an infused knowledge)
-scientia experientae (knowledge of life in the normal way of human life)

Question 22

what does karl rhaner suggest about Jesus’ consciousness?

Answer 22

• a genuinely human conciousness must have an unknown nature in front of it
  -if jesus was conscious of God’s awareness, then his view of life can hardly be called human

Question 23

explain Rhaner’s theory of the onion

Answer 23

-human self awareness as layered
-we have deep within us understanding of our self which are not always on the surface of our consciousness

Question 24

by being able to work miracles, what was jesus able to do?

Answer 24

he confounded the mechanical orderliness of the universe

Question 25

what do some christians believe about miracles today

Answer 25

that they happen and they are evidence of the holy spirit’s continued presence

Question 26

where do some christians go in hope of being healed

Answer 26

lourdes in france

Question 27

explain the healing story in the fishing boat

Answer 27

-jesus’ disciples were in a fishing boat in a storm
-jesus was on land and saw them struggling
-he went out to them, walking on the lake
-he climbed into the boat and the wind died down

Question 28

what does Hume believe about miracles

Answer 28

because we have no present day, direct experiences of miracles, it is not possible to trust the accounts of the miracles

Question 29

what did edward schillebeeckx think about miracles

Answer 29

miracles can be interpreted as having a spiritual or metaphorical meaning

Question 30

what does NT Wright suggest about miracles

Answer 30

we need to think about what the gospel wroters were trying to achieve - often jesus perforned miracles on the poor and needy and excluded. we need to think about ordinary people who experience turmoil in their life

Question 31

how did Jesus’ resurrection become fundamental to what christians believe about god

Answer 31

in the same way that god raised jesus from the dead, he will raise everyone from the dead

Question 32

for some christians, what does the resurrection prove?

Answer 32

-the future kingdom of god
-the full and final revelation of jesus - the bginning and end of all things
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Question 33

what did richard dawkins believe about jesus

Answer 33

he was a great moral teacher

Question 34

jesus was often called a rabbi - what does this mean

Answer 34

term of respect but also can be used for educated teachers who interpreted the laws

Question 35

where did jesus spend time teaching and what did his listeners say about him

Answer 35

synagogue - they were supirsed about his level of education