UNIT 2.2 The Person Of Jesus Flashcards
The Jesus of history vs the Jesus of faith
(Classical source)
Tacitus- a roman senator, known for his hatred of Christian’s
Gave 4 pieces of unbiased, accurate knowledge of Jesus
“The founder of this group, whom they call ‘Christus’”
- the name christus
- his association with the Christian movement
- he was alive during the reign of Tiberius
(Jewish source)
Josephus- A priest, secure in roman patronage (were not Christian but had no reason to exaggerate ideas about Jesus)
“Jesus who is called messiah”
(Christian/ biblical source)
Robert Van Voorst
“Denial of Jesus’s existence is virtually impossible”
Jewish rabbis could have arguably treated Jesus as having never existed but they all consider and wrote about him as a real person
The Christ of faith
= the Jesus of Christian’s belief rather than history
“The father and I are one”
“There is the lamb of god, who takes away the sins of the world”
Messiah= a messenger sent by God
The incarnation= God became flash and lived among us
Logos ‘the words of God’ = Jesus is and delivers gods message
The trinity= the different manifestations of God (hypostatic principle of unity)
Karl Bath ‘the intersection’
The three perspectives of Jesus
- a teacher of moral wisdom
- God in human form
- a political revolutionary
Jesus as a moral teacher
Josephus and Tactics both give accounts of Jesus preaching, providing guidance etc
Often referred to in the bible as Rabbi = a term of respect, also used to refer to teachers
“Rabbi we know that you are a teacher sent by God”
His use of parables and stories made his audience think rather than just listen to rules
SET TEXT- the lost son
- define metanoia
- what does the son do that is so bad
‘Metanoia’= change in ones way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion (what Jesus demanded from people- a complete change of heart)
- “give me my share of the property now”
Goes against the 5th commandment- honour your father and your mother (cultural expectation of the time never to ask your parents for money, in modern terms comparable to telling your parent to drop dead) - “he went to a country far away”
Referred to gentile land, betraying his cultural heritage and faith and dishonouring his father- committing the worst action imaginable - “sent him out to his farm to take care of the pigs”
Any contact with pigs was considered spiritually desecrating because they were ceremonially unclean animals.
Jesus was setting him up as a truly villainous person that had committed the worst sins imaginable
Equating the father to God
“He threw his arms around his son and kissed him”
- his actions were so unexpected because Jewish law would decree that he be ostracised at least and possibly condemned to death
Sandals= distinguished servants and slaves (customarily barefoot) from the masters and their children
Robe= honours the most important guest, considered formal wear
Ring= family crest or seal, provides legal authentication which gives him all the authority of an important and wealthy nobleman
Father= god in the life of a sinner
God honours humans despite all their flaws and his perfections
He provides them with endless forgiveness and love no matter their actions
He gives them authority and embraces and celebrates them on their return to his kingdom
The anger of the elder son
“All these years i have worked for you, what have you given me”
- the son has returned ‘safe and sound’ refers to a Greek expression similar to metanoia, the servant was implying that he was dramatically changed for the better
- the repentant sinner is better than the pious mad secretly filled with resentment and anger
The son represents the Jewish people and by extension the Jewish Pharisees as they often focus on performative goodness
They would be similar to the elder son, outraged by the unusual outcome.
Jesus message was one of inner purity, developing ones character and having good intentions
SET TEXT- the sermon on the mount
Inner purity= having morally good intentions and thoughts. Developing the morality of your character on the inside
“Love your friends” - “love your enemies, prey for those who persecute you”
“Do not commit adultery” - “ do not even look at another with lust”
- there is no point being outwardly holy if on the inside you are bitter, resentful, arrogant or unloving
- this is a challange to the Pharisees and was very radical for the time. Jewish customs and laws were very action centred (what you did, ate, wore etc)
The beatitudes
+ quote from Jesus about inner purity
A series of statements that describe how people should live
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy”
“It is not what goes into your mouth that makes you ritually unclean: rather what comes out of it”
- the rules that you follow are not what matters, but the nature of your actions
Also a slightly judgemental comment about food laws
Hicks belief on Jesus as a moral teacher
+ why its frequently rejected
John Hick believes that Jesus should be primarily understood as a great moral teacher, a human being who exemplified and taught high ethical principles, rather than believing that Jesus was divine or God incarnate in the flesh; essentially seeing him as a “guru” or role model for ethical living, not a deity
Hick argues that the historical Jesus did not claim to be God and should be understood as a fully human individual.
Jesus provides a powerful example of how to live a morally good life
concept of Jesus as the “Son of God” metaphorically, meaning that Jesus was particularly receptive to God’s will and acted as a conduit for divine inspiration.
All his authority comes from his position as the son of God- how can you believe all he said is true if you don’t believe in the miracle
Jesus as a political liberator
He often criticised the religious practices and in turn the social and political ideas of the time
Matthew 23- Jesus condemns the political leaders (Pharisees)
“You appear good to everybody, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and sins”
‘tefillin’= paper scripture verses tied to themselves in boxes
- they are ,through their teachings, restricting others from entering heaven
“You strain a fly out of your drink but swallow a camel”
You get picky about the strict Jewish laws, but completely ignore the hugely important factors
SET TEXT- the bleeding woman
Prejudices of the time- distance for touching a woman, belief her bleeding would make her ceremonially unclean “suffered from severe bleeding”
‘NIDDAH’= spiritually unclean
- Judaism extended the belief to the extent that the sick/ ill were in such condition as a punishment from God
- links to the fall : women having issues with bleeding see as an extension of the punishment on Eve to suffer in childbirth
- Jesus speaking to her/ seeking her out to demonstrate that he was worthy
- allowing her to participate in a social gathering (after being in a state of perpetual religious and social isolation)
“Go in peace and be healed of your trouble”
SET TEXT- the Good Samaritan
Prejudices/ social and political norms challenged- long standing hatred between Jews and Samaritan, mixed marriages between Jews and gentiles that became one nation (Samaritans) is considered the watering down of Judaism “but a Samaritan found him and his heart was filled with pity”
- physical contact with those considered niddah + outward concern with cleanliness
- challenges stereotypes of those who are considered religiously wise not truly being good people/ having inner purity because they are more concerned with outward appearances and their own cleanliness
“A Levite.. walked by”
Jesus’ challenging of political authorities
+quote against
“I have not come to bring peace to the world, but a sword”
He came to Jerusalem at the Jewish festival of Passover, he chose to arrive during a very political celebration and along himself with a ling of ‘freeing the Jews’
Challenged the political leaders “inside you are full of hypocrisy and sins”
He stated that “the son of man must suffer and be rejected by the elders”
Implying a certain self awareness of his challange to authorities
“Blessed are the peacemakers”
“Happy are those who work for peace”
NT Wright on Jesus as a political liberator
“Jesus offered a fresh interpretation of the scriptural tradition”
- there was not as large of a distinction between him and the Jewish contemporaries of the time, he just saw the traditions as interpretable in other ways
Liberation theology
Movement in Christianity that attempts to tackle poverty and social injustice
- grew out of Karl Marx’s thinking + was adapted by Christian’s who wanted to find a way to tackle poverty
- written by El Salvador in the mid 20th century, which saw Jesus words and actions as a call to political revolution and change
Based on the belief that Jesus was a political activist + so is focused of fighting poverty and oppression before focusing on salvation
‘Political implications to the gospels’ = after hearing Jesus teachings Christians have no choice but to involve themselves in politics
“I did not come to bring peace to the world, but a sword”
Kingdom of God= this world made better
‘Preferential option for the poor’ catholic principle that they should be put first
“Whenever you did this for the least of my followers, you did it for me”
Why is his position as a moral teacher important
+ as a political reformer
- sets the tone of Christianity and shows what religion should be about (putting others first, how to live a good life)
- sparked a whole new religion
- inspirational to all people without his necessity to be God incarnate
+ demonstrates how one individual can stand up against the ruling authorities
- sparked a whole political movement in liberation theology- which was responsible for overthrowing corrupt governments in Central America in 1960s
- religion in terms of putting yourself at risk in taking a stand against injustice
Jesus as the son of God
+ the 4 key ways his divinity is demonstrated
The incarnation, miracles, his knowledge of God, the resurrection
The incarnation
The annunciation story “you will become pregnant… and he will be called the son of God”- the angel Gabriel
- the immaculate conception- no other human can come into being any other way
- ‘hypostatic union’ = Jesus is simultaneously fully God and fully human
Johns prologue
“And the word was with God and the word was God”
Logos ‘the word of God’- Jesus if the message and intentions of God, has existed for as long as God has existed and is Gods thoughts and mind
- at a particular point, God chooses to turn this message into a physical being
“The light comes into the world”- he was sent to enlightened us, those who re darkened by sin
“And the word became flesh and dwelt among us”- referred to as flesh because he cannot be understood in any human sense by referring to him as human body or man.
SET TEXT- Jesus walks on water
“He came to them walking on water”
Different interpretations of miracles
- David Hume
- Edward Schillebeeckx
- NT wright
- we have no present day evidence, so it must be taken on faith- if accepted it points to Jesuss incredible power
- spiritual/ metaphorical significance rather than a literal one- Jesus is a source of calm in everyday life, that people must grow to accept (how he does so is scientifically unbeknownst)
SET TEXT- Jesus heals the blind man
“His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents’ sins”
“The man who did this cannot be from God, as he does not obey Sabbath laws”
- NT Wright may argue that the message of this miracle itself is more valuable than the miracle itself. Jesus demonstrates the importance of helping others and breaks social beliefs of the time that led people to believe that those facing illness were doing so due to God.
Jesus’ knowledge of God
Jesus being lost in the temple- “i had to be in my fathers house”
- at 12, Jesus parents found Jesus at a temple discussing with the Jewish teachers after being lost for 2 days, giving intelligent responses to each question
“The father and I are one”
“Whoever has seen me has seen the father”
- suggests he was spiritually aware of both his religious beliefs and his position as a son of god
Karl Rainer
+ Gerald O’Collins on Jesus’ knowledge of God
A genuinely human consciousness must have an unknown future as our life is conditioned by a large sense of uncertainty
- questions wether he had a deeper self understanding that was not at the forefront of his mind/ consciousness
It is extremely difficult and boarder line impossible to undertake any study of the inner workings of any being, especially Jesus
- consciousness is different from knowledge as it involves a degree of reflection
Jesus’ resurrection
“The truth of Jesus’ divinity is confirmed by his resurrection” - the catechism of the Catholic Church
- St Paul claims that if the resurrection had not occurred the Christian faith would be impossible
- it is fundamental in terms of Jesus ability to promise salvation, Jesus sacrifice was repentance for our sins, but if there was no resurrection we cannot be sure thee is any hope of forgiveness
Branch of Christianity that do not believe he is god incarnate
Some Christians, such as Christadelphians, believe that Jesus was human and not divine. This view is called Nontrinitarianism.
Explanation
Christadelphians believe that Jesus was the Son of God, but only in a relational sense to the Father, who is truly God, They believe that Jesus’ humanity was necessary to save humans from their sins.
