Topic 4 - Person of Jesus Christ

Question 1

Jesus as teacher of wisdom

what does jesus’ affirmation of life mean?

Answer 1

ludwid wittgenstein was convinced by leo tolstoy’s presentation of christ

for wittgenstein the truth of christianity lay not in god’s promise of redemption in the afterlife by living as honestly as possible

wittgenstein believed jesus was a ‘form of life’ as a way of living simply

Question 2

Jesus as teacher of wisdom

what was jesus’ moral teaching?

Answer 2

sermon on the mount

gospel presents jesus as the new moses with the role of displaying the law to humans

Question 3

Jesus as teacher of wisdom

what was jesus’ moral teaching on forgiveness?

Answer 3

“turn the other cheek”

parable of the lost son

Question 4

Jesus as teacher of wisdom

motive and inner purity?

Answer 4

although jesus was critical of the pharisees, he admired those of them who were trying to achieve spiritual holiness or ‘righteousness’

he taught morality was about developing one’s character

“be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect” (matthew 5:48)

Question 5

Jesus as teacher of wisdom

personal responsibility?

Answer 5

the sabbath day is the day of rest.

morality requires personal responsibility and not blind obedience to rules

Question 6

jesus as a liberator

liberator of the poor?

Answer 6

S.G.F. Brandon argued Jesus was a politically driven freedom fighter,

During the time of civil war in S. America 1970s liberation theologians found inspiration in the Zealot type presentation of Jesus - (link to liberation theology preferential option of the poor)

“The eye of a needle”

Question 7

jesus as a liberator

liberator of the marginalised?

Answer 7

parable of the good samaritan - on their way to the temple in jerusalem two jewish officials just leave the man

gospel of mark - jesus touches a women who’s been bleeding for 12 years

Question 8

jesus as the son of god

christology?

Answer 8

the nature of jesus relationship with god is known as christology, there are 2 types of christology

christology from above - focuses on jesus divinity and god’s act of bringing humanity back into relationship with him

christology from below - focusues on jesus’s message example and teaching

Question 9

jesus as the son of god

miracles?

Answer 9

water into wine

jesus born to a virgin, pregnancy is the result of the holy spirit

Question 10

ESSAY PLAN - PERSON OF JESUS

POINT 1

Answer 10

P1 – JESUS AS SON OF GOD/ DIVINE/ LIBERATOR FROM SIN (vs. CANNOT BE SURE OF DIVINITY, SYMBOLIC MIRACLES)
A: Often regarded as on of the most important titles given to Jesus throughout the gospels, Son of God seems to affirm his intimate relationship with God, thus confirming his authority and divinity in line with Christology from above.
• Christology from above – Jesus was sent by God as a saviour for humanity, in order to bring about the Kingdom of Heaven and restore the human-God relationship and spread God’s spirit. Suffering servant – “bore the sin of many” (Isaiah 53). Numerous passages in the Gospels to support his divinity – “my kingdom is not from this world” (John 18)
• Ultimately belief must be rooted in the unique Christian narrative and the Christ-event i.e. the resurrection; if Jesus is separated from his divinity, manifested in the resurrection as the miraculous affirmation of Jesus’ relationship with God, Jesus remains no different from other prophets.

Question 11

ESSAY PLAN - PERSON OF JESUS

POINT 1 - COUNTER ARGUMENT

Answer 11

CA: Cannot be sure as to whether Jesus was fully God, mediator of the divine
• Jesus does not seem to be aware of his divinity, preferring alternative messianic titles such as Son of Man
• Although resurrection affirms the unique father-son relationship its literal significance can be questioned. It seems one must take a relationist approach – 1054 CE Great Schism, Arius points out the absoluteness and singularity of God, who is transcendent and not part of this earth and therefore beyond human comprehension. Jesus is thus a human manifestation of God/ morality – represents God but is not God in himself (never know if God exists), much like Kant explains how our phenomenal realm represents the noumenal realm.
• Although the resurrection suggests affirmation of the Father-Son relationship, in line with the Nicene Creed claiming Father and Son are the same substance (homoousios), E P Sanders argues it is impossible to know the literal significance or uniqueness of Jesus’ relationship with God. Kierkergaard’s leap of faith – knowledge of God and Jesus’ divinity cannot be proved/ disproved and is instead a personal quest.

Question 12

ESSAY PLAN - PERSON OF JESUS

POINT 1 - COUNTER RESPONSE

Answer 12

R: Ability to perform miracles as evidence of divinity
• Numerous passages in the Gospels referring to Jesus’ miracles, demonstrating his literal divine powers and authority, thus suggesting he is God not human
• Mark 6 shows Jesus to walk on water and calm the winds, in a similar fashion to how God commands over nature in Genesis, John 9 Jesus miraculously heals the blind man

Question 13

ESSAY PLAN - PERSON OF JESUS

POINT 1 - CONCLUSIVE RESPONSE

Answer 13

CR: Miracles merely symbolic of his authority and socio-moral guidance
• One is able to reference Hume’s work on miracles to question the testimony of Biblical writers – humans are drawn to the bizarre and unusual. However miracles still have significance, if not necessarily a literal one…
• N T Wright argues Jesus’ healing miracles are symbolic of his reconciliation of socially outcast persons, as a metaphor of God’s forgiveness and inclusivity (mediator of the divine) e.g. John 9 can be read in a wholly metaphorical sense – Jesus heals spiritual or moral blindness, not literal blindness.

Question 14

ESSAY PLAN - PERSON OF JESUS

POINT 2

Answer 14

P2 – JESUS AS TEACHER (vs. SECULARISAITON)
A: Jesus as a moral teacher great appeal for many, especially those who place less emphasis on his divinity
• In the Gospels there is much evidence of Jesus’ teachings e.g. forgiveness in the Parable of the Lost Son, and the idea that forgiveness is about a radical change of mindset (metanoia) not just merely saying you forgive someone.
• John Hick “gift to the world” – Jesus as a teacher means Xnity is not in competition with other religions, aid interfaith dialogue

Question 15

ESSAY PLAN - PERSON OF JESUS

POINT 2 - COUNTER ARGUMENT

Answer 15

CA: Yet without placing Jesus as a teacher alongside other titles such as Son of God, Christianity becomes secularised and Jesus is left like any other inspirational teacher.
• Many Christians would choose to follow Jesus example BECAUSE he is connected with the Father – what makes his teaching unique…

Question 16

ESSAY PLAN - PERSON OF JESUS

POINT 2 - CONCLUSIVE RESPONSE

Answer 16

R: Jesus’ divinity should not be hugely important in determining moral acts – should be based on inner purity
• Equally in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus outlines the importance of motivation and inner purity for moral actions; he targets the Pharisees and religious authorities who merely follow religious customs and do not act out of moral goodness.
Living the moral life is liberation from sin – symbolic resurrection
• Tolstoy focused more on Jesus’ renunciation of worldly pleasures and the example of the moral life, such as in Sermon on the Mount
Wittgenstein admired Jesus for his clarity and authenticity – saw him as the embodiment of the external moral and inner spiritual life “if you try to help other people you will in the end find your way to God” (God = moral action, not a reality)

Question 17

ESSAY PLAN - PERSON OF JESUS

POINT 3

Answer 17

P3 – JESUS AS A LIBERATOR;
• Throughout Jesus’ ministry he can be found to show preferential option for the poor and marginalised – the concept of reversal in the Gospels (e.g. Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus), Mark 1 and 8 he heals individuals with leprosy typically classed as unclean, entry in Jerusalem on a donkey during Passover have distinct messianic overtones (Zechariah 9)
• His influence and value in this sense can be seen through liberation theology in South America 1960s, with Jesus portrayal as a liberator inspiring liberation theologians such as Gustavo Gutierrez to actively change the structures of society in order to liberate the poor and oppressed
• Reza Aslan’s book ‘Zealot’ and S.G.F. Brandon’s study ‘Jeaous and the Zealots’ highlight his revolutionary nature was watered down for the gentile Roman empire – Jesus was concerned with all being equally valued in society, as equals in the eyes of God…

Question 18

ESSAY PLAN - PERSON OF JESUS

POINT 3 - COUNTER ARGUMENT

Answer 18

CA: Political liberator is too narrow in scope and does not account for the wider spiritual liberation Christ personifies. Has to be a liberator from sin (Christ event)
• Paul in Corinthians 15, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins”
• He must have spiritual and divine connection to the Father to remain authentically Christian – liberator Jesus secularises Christianity, as seen through Liberation Theology based on a SECULART THEORY – MARXISM!

Question 19

ESSAY PLAN - PERSON OF JESUS

POINT 3 - CONCLUSIVE RESPONSE

Answer 19

R: Moral action is what liberates us (Bonhoeffer) – not belief in theological doctrine
• Wittgenstein and religion as a “form of life” – “if you and I are to live religious lives, it mustn’t be that we talk a lot about religion, but that our manner of life is different”
• Jesus himself put great emphasis on the need to put the self last and be servant of all, “bore the sin of many”; I think his crucifixion was symbolic of how we should forgive and act selflessly and help “set free the oppressed”