Christianity Discussion Questions Flashcards
(37 cards)
How does the Christian view of the scriptural story of God working through the people of Israel
differ from the Jewish view?
Everything in the Torah and in the whole Hebrew scriptures was understood to point symbolically to Jesus as the Messiah.
According to the Christian story, then, God the loving parent created humans to live in fellowship and happiness with their creator. But humans fell into sin, rebelling against God and thus, creating an estrangement from God that will continue for all generations.
Because God is also a loving parent, he set out a plan for salvation.
The Torah is seen as the preliminary plan for salvation and is therefore known as the Old Testament. These scriptures foreshadow the coming of Jesus.
The Christian story stresses the incomplete nature of the Old Testament and is understood to be open ended, revealing the plan for salvation but ending before salvation is fully complete.
What was the main contest of Jesus’ preaching of the coming of the Kingdom of God? By what
actions did he demonstrate the presence of the kingdom?
The gospel recounts actions of Jesus’s healing, exorcisms of unclean spirits, multiplying food and wine, and even raising the dead that signaled the coming of the Kingdom of God.
The main contest was the the Kingdom of God was not coming, nor political, but was rather already at hand working quietly and having to do with the community.
According to the gospels, on what points did rabbi Jesus differ from the understanding of the
Jewish tradition held by his fellow Jewish teachers?
He emphasized the two main tenets of the Torah: Love god with all ones might, and to love ones neighbor.
Furthermore, he extended sins to include ill intentions rather then the acts themselves i.e. anger towards ones brother rather then just killing, or feelings of lust rather then just adultery.
Radically different, love thy neighbor hate thy enemy was now overturned to love thy neighbor love thy enemy.
Held a controversial amount of authority in his teaching, referring to god as abba (endearing term for father) and being proclaimed as the son of god.
He broke the sabbath saying it was for the sake of man and not for mans sake and seemed to be above the Torah. Was called blasphemous for forgiving sin in his own name.
Most controversial he befriended those who were perpetual sinners. Taught that god forgives those who sin contrary to the Jewish opinion that God rewarded those who were righteous and punish those who sinned.
Challenged the righteousness of religious teachers.
Some saw him as arrogant and boastful as he was speaking above the Torah.
Why is the Christian story so interested in the question of why Jesus died? What answers does it
give to this question?
Because his death is posited to have meaning and purpose, in accordance with Gods will and design.
Jesus’s suffering and death was the accomplishment of Gods salvation. The death involved taking all the burdens and sins on the Godself through the righteous servant. Gods plan of salvation was to take the form of a suffering Messiah.
What was the main problem that developed between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians?
What answer did Paul and others provide for this problem?
The major conflict between Jew and Gentile Christians was the question of whether the Gentiles should have to follow the laws of the Torah (such as circumcision and dietary law).
Paul responded with the letter to the Galatians in which he insisted that a person is made right by god only in trust and promise in Christ, not by any works ritual observances i.e. salvation by faith. Christians are one by the body of Christ.
What were some of the ways in which Paul and others translated the gospel of Jesus from the
Jewish context into the Greek-Hellenistic context?
Because those of the Greek-Hellenistic area had widely different spiritual views Paul and others plumbed the depths of Christology (thinking of the nature of Christ).
They rejected Gnostic ideas about the material world and the body being a material prison and rather talked about the incarnation of God in Jesus. Continued the Jewish belief of the resurrection of the body and rejected immortality of the soul (Greek ideas). In communicating the gospel to the Hellenistic world the Christian church came to incorporate in its story the ongoing encounter of God through the worship of the risen Christ and Jewish perspective of history moving towards a consummation.
How did Christianity become the religion of the Roman Empire? In what sense was monasticism
a countercultural movement?
Constantine’s claim to the empire provided greater tolerance for Christianity and he even helped unify and strengthen the churches, Later Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the only religion allowed in the Roman Empire.
Monasticism was a countercultural movement in that many Christians withdrew from society to practice in extreme ways such as praying constantly, fasting, isolationism, and so on.
What were the basic issues in the theological controversies of the fourth and fifth centuries?
How were these settled by the church councils, such as the ones at Nicea and Chalcedon?
Many of the major controversies concerned the doctrine of God, especially the Trinitarian and Christological controversies took place in the fourth and fifth centuries giving rise to a number of worldwide councils. Through these debates the catholic (universal) was defined and dissenting beliefs were labeled heresies.
The Arian controversy erupted in the eastern churches , Arius a priest from Egypt argued that the Son was created by the father in time. Constantine created the council of Nicea to decide that the son is true god from true god and is not one being from the father.
Another controversy resulted from defining Christ himself, some deciding a dualism between divine and man and others concluding just that he was divine. The council of Chalcedon determined that Christ has two natures, divine and human, united in a single person. The characteristics of each nature come together and form one person.
What were some key differences in emphasis between the Eastern and Western churches?
The Western Church following Augustine, emphasized the utter sinfulness of human nature and Jesus’s death as key to God’s redeeming activity.
But the tendency in the east was to focus on the restoration of Gods image in humans through the incarnation of Christ. Christ united the Godhead to human nature by sharing in sharing in Gods perfect humanity humans could be raised up to be God. Also developed the sacred liturgy as a means of celebration and developed forms of mysticism. (included colorful icons and what not).
Finally the Western inclusion of ‘and the son’ in the Nicene creed where some Westerners were saying the holy spirit followed from the Father and the son, which Easterners did not agree with because it seemed to take away the primacy of the Father from the holy trinity.
What were the main issues that led to the Reformation movement in the 16th century? What
would you consider to be Martin Luther’s key teachings?
To raise money for building a decadent church in Rome the Church started selling indulgences (remission of punishment for sins). Although this is what first sparked Luther’s protest, the whole medieval synthesis of Christendom was taken into question such as corruption and consolidation of political power.
Luther’s Key teaching points: The righteousness of God is a forgiving righteousness by which God makes us righteous through Christ. Justification through faith by grace became the heart of Luther’s theology. This lead to the rejection of justification through monistic practices works of the church etc. He also rejected papal supremacy. Humans can do nothing to merit salvation, questioned monistic ideal, scripture is the sole authority, priesthood of all believers put laypeople on par with monks and priests and elevated the worth of secular vocations for Christians.
How did state churches and denominations develop? How did the United States come to have its
constitutional policy of separation of church and state?
The reformation disrupted order and religious warfare broke out, temporary peace was achieved through The Peace of Augsburg in 1555 through the principle that the religion of the ruler became the religion of the realm. Later after more religious wars the Peace of Westphalia drew the religious map of Europe, setting up state churches of Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism.
In the immigrations to the new world all these state and dissenting churches were represented, so that a central characteristic of American Christianity is its multiplicity of denominations. Some groups from state churches further subdivided and increased the complexity of denominations.
The pilgrims who came to America were from the dissenting Congregationalists of England, bringing the idea of separating church and state functions, both still under divine law. Eventually a separation of church and state was written into the constitution and has been powerfully influential in American Christianity, law, and politics.
What were some of the effects of the Enlightenment and the rise of science on Christianity?
What particular threat did some Christians feel in the scientific study of the bible?
Scientific findings seemed to remove humans from the center of all things and challenged the authority of the church and its tradition, raised skepticism. Enlightenment thought brought about new logic on morality that did not rely on revelation. Darwin’s theory seemed to challenge the account of creation and brought man closer to animals. Churches framed their teachings more towards a humanitarian ethic in response or provided more traditional readings of texts. Some Christians reacted strongly against the perceived threat and held to the literal truth of the bible (fundamentalists).
Scientific study of the bible challenged the literal truth of miracle accounts, the veracity of historical descriptions in the bible, the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, and even the reliability of the portrait of Jesus in the new testament. This scholarship was identifying errors in the holy book such as historical accounts of events and so on.
What is the ecumenical movement among the Christian churches today?
The Ecumenical (worldwide) Movement refers to the different denominations of the world working closer together and has established the World Council of Churches formed in 1948 at Amsterdam, represents a degree of cooperation among most protestant churches. Unity was also promoted through the second Vatican Council by the catholic church. Doctrines signed by the catholic and Lutheran church displays a joint understanding of the doctrine of Christ.
What key aspects of God do Christians believe are revealed in Jesus Christ as the “image” of
God?
Christians know god through the revelations of Jesus Christ. Christians thinking of God begins with Jesus.
Jesus shows God as a loving father. God is still the judge and ultimate evaluator of sins, but his real intention is mercy.
Discuss how Christians can believe in the unity of God and still talk about the Trinity
The doctrine of the Trinity state that God is one in three persons. Christians tried to insist in the unity of God, but their experience taught them that God, eternally unified in self, is present and works in the created world in a number of aspects or mores or ‘persons’. Using Biblical terms Christians called these aspects by the names of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Explain what the Nicene Creed states about each of the three “persons” of God
It states the belief of one God and then specifies the facets of God i.e. the father the creator almighty and transcendent lord of the universe, The face of god through the son Jesus Christ made one with the Father came down from heaven for our salvation became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man rose from death and ascended to heaven sits at the right hand of the father and will come again.
The statement says that the son is completely one with God and was sent to redeem humanity.
The Holy Spirit with the Father and Son is worshipped and glorified who has spoken with the prophets.
The Holy Spirit represents Gods ongoing spiritual presence in the world and in humans. Through the Spirit comes life, revelation, and guidance. This is the presence of God that prompts human longings and prayers, that sustains them in their doubts, that cleanses and renews them. The Spirit guides and unifies the church, works through baptism and forgiveness and sustains faithful hope
Why did God create the world, in the Christian view? What is the role of humans?
Although God didn’t have to create the world he did so out of love as proven through Jesus Christ. God wanted humans as children to respond to the divine love in personal trust and fellowship
Christians see all God’s design summed up in Christ, who is the ‘end’ of fulfillment of both God’s love and justice.
How can the world be a good world create by God and yet also a world full of sin and evil? Is
God’s love or God’s justice predominant
While god designed all things to be good including human reason, reason may also be driven by the will that turns a person back upon him or herself in pride and selfishness. Therefore reason is an ambiguous guide to morality and insufficient without God.
Most Christians emphasize the sinfulness of human nature more forcefully than Jews or Muslims. It is not just a matter of a evil tendency, which can be controlled or mastered by one who has the mind to do so. Rather, there is a deep, complete fracture in the very nature of humans, causing separation from God and inevitable sinfulness in human existence. Sin for Christians is not just an act done by a person; sin is the very being of humans, the state of alienation from God and his design.
What sort of theological interpretation do Christians typically give to the story of Adam and Eve
in the Garden of Eden?
TThe story is told about the first man and the first woman, but the Christian view it really is the story of all humans. Humans are given an option to obey or disobey the divine will and are always confronted with this decision, that they are free to decide shows that God has entered into a personal relationship with them, that they consistently turn to their own way shows their inevitable human sin and rebellion against the creator.
Most Christians see the story as a symbolic description of the natural state of humans: created to be partners of God but always choosing the selfish and rebellious course.
The Christian interpretation of this story sees in it the fall of humankind into a sinful state, blotting out or distorting the image of God in which they were created.
How does the Christian doctrine of sin (called “original sin”) differ from the Jewish view of sin?
Original sin views human sin obligatory and humans are unable to not sin. Some Christians believe is passed on physically from one generation to the next. No one is without sin and there are no sinners who are worse then others in their nature (of course there are some who are more distrustful). Furthermore, all can be redeemed.
It is different from the Jewish view in that it views sin is viewed through humans sinful nature rather then the various sins that someone commits (Jewish view). The Christian view advocates the need to turn to God for mercy, whereas the Jewish requires study in order to do better.
How does the Christian view of God’s Law differ from that of Jews and Muslims?
Gods law is sufficiently in our nature that we do by nature know justice from injustice, and even our self-interest will lead us to try and establish a society of order and fairness. But to be in the right relationship with God is the key to salvation, and this, most Christians believe, is beyond our human possibilities because of our fundamental sinful nature.
This differs from both Judaism and Islam. For Jews, as we have seen, the divinely given path of Torah is the path of transformation; following it and performing it mitzvot bring blessing, joy, and salvation. For Muslims following Gods law is the path of transformation that brings felicity in this world and the next. But in Christian understanding, the law (Gods demands on humans, as revealed in the Torah) cannot be a path of salvation, for it demands of us what we cannot do. i.e. no human can be holy like god is holy despite the demand
What do you think Christians mean when they talk about being “saved” by Christ? Explain the
idea of atonement.
When we abandon our attempts at self-justification and turn to God, Christians believe, we find we are justified and saved through Jesus Christ.
Atonement refers to the suffering servant (Jesus) of God, on whom God will place the sins and the burdens of all to make atonement for them. Jesus atones for the sins of all humankind by his sacrifice on the cross, and by this atonement bringing about the restoration of the loving relationship between God and humans.
Because God loved the world he took the consequences (of demands of justice and judgement) of our sins upon the Godself in Jesus Christ, replacing the demand and punishment of the law with the power of love.
What were the views of the Docetists and the Arians about the nature of Christ? What is the
accepted orthodox doctrine?
Arians were teaching that Jesus was really human, created to be God’s son and savior of the world. But Christians found that to restrict Jesus from being fully God causes problems for soteriology; how could the suffering and death of a mere human make atonement for the whole world.
The Docetists (from the Greek word dokeo, meaning to ‘seem’ or to ‘appear’) taught that Jesus Christ was fully God but just ‘seemed’ to be a human with the mask of flesh and blood. But Christians found that this made the humans sufferings and bearing of human burdens meaningless, for only one who is human can truly experience human suffering.
Orthodox: Christian thinkers decided that the only way preserve the good news of salvation through Christ is to talk of Jesus Christ as fully God and fully human, two natures united in the one person.
On the Christian path, what is the role of faith? Of doing good works?
Faith is the accepting of the grace that comes from God in Christ. It is not a ‘work’ in the sense of fulfilling God’s law and demand or justifying oneself by some worthwhile deeds. Rather, faith is saying yes to God’s love, accepting the diving promise that we have been reconciled to God.
Faith is not primarily an intellectual act, although it does involve mind and reason. Christians believe the primary meaning of having faith is coming into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord. The personal relation with Christ is the overcoming of the fracture of sin. Salvation through faith is a lifelong process, and worship and prayer is a means to this transformation.
Christians talk of the value of work and actions. Work grows out of faith. People who have experienced God’s love and grace will be inwardly motivated to demonstrate that kind of love and grace also in their lives-freely, not for sake of reward.
