the person of Jesus christ Flashcards
(15 cards)
jesus’ knowledge of God
jesus calls God ‘abba’ (greek for father) and a heavenly voice declares jesus ‘my son’ (the baptism of Jesus, transfiguration) but jesus does not use the term ‘son’ himself.
the ancient world contained myths of gods producing Demi-god/hero offspring with humans. these offspring were not gods but had god like powers. but christians do not see jesus as a figure like that instead, jesus is directly associated with god by the text -
st john writes jesus as Word, and that the ‘word was God’ john 1:1
thomas refers to jesus as ‘my lord and my god’ John 20:28
The Trinity is the doctrine that there is one God in three persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The trinitarian view holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
There were many different views about the nature of God’s relationship to Jesus in early Christianity. In A.D. 325 a council of Bishops was convened by Constantine to settle the dispute over the God’s relation to Jesus. They produced the Nicene Creed which proclaimed the trinitarian view correct - “By the power of the Holy spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.”
The Chalcedonian Definition which was a decree of the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451. The definition claims that Christ has two natures which join together in one being. -
He is one Substance (‘ousia’) yet three Persons (‘hypostasis’). Jesus has two natures (human and divine). He is Fully God and Fully Man, joined in hypostatic union
problems with the trinity/ jesus being divine
how human was jesus? - if jesus was God, does that mean he didnt really suffer on the cross - as how can God suffer
if jesus did not feel pain, that would mean the ressurrection wasnt real.
Unitarian liberal theologian Channing argued that the Trinitarian view of Jesus is one of “infinite confusion”. How could one being be both human and divine, weak and almighty, ignorant and omniscient? Something could be either human or divine, but not both. These are two different incompatible states.
John Hick agrees and illustrates this argument; to say Jesus is God is like saying that a circle is also a square. Hick goes on to conclude that Christ being a mere human solves the paradoxical implications of the trinity.
“For to say, without explanation, that the historical Jesus of Nazareth was also God is as devoid of meaning as to say that this circle drawn with a pencil on paper is also a square” – Hick.
if Jesus was fully human as well as divine then that also creates problems - Paul wrote in romans that humans have a sinful, corrupting nature so if jesus became human, wouldn’t he become corrupted?
trinity is a mystery to be taken on faith
Theologians like Augustine and Karl Barth admit that the trinity is a mystery which must be taken on faith and that all human attempts to fully understand the trinity through reason are misguided.
Barth claims “A really suitable term for it just does not exist”. The application of human reason to understanding God is not something Augustine or Barth would accept.
The success of Barth’s argument here depends on whether they are right that the Bible supports the trinitarian view and also on whether he is correct in his rejection of natural theology and the power of reason to provide us knowledge of God.
Biblical evidence for the trinity -
The word “Trinity” is not in the Bible. However, trinitarians believe that we need the concept of the Trinity because they argue it accurately captures the way that the Bible refers to the relationship between The Father and the Son.
John 10:30. Jesus said, “The Father and I are one”.
John 1:1-3. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’
Hick’s critique of the Biblical evidence for Jesus’ divinity from John. Hick argued that the historical Jesus did not teach nor “apparently believe that he was God, or God the Son, Second person of a Holy Trinity, incarnate, or the son of God in a unique sense.”
Hick points out that the label ‘son of God’ was a common title in Judaism when referring to a very special human chosen by God, not a truly unique divine person. For example, Adam was called the son
jesus divine - development argument
Many scholars, including Hick, make a development argument regarding Jesus’ divinity. John was the latest Gospel written and clear statements of Jesus’ divinity do not exist in the earlier Gospels, which casts doubt on the authenticity of John. The earliest gospel is thought to be Mark, which begins with Jesus’ baptism making no mention of a divine birth and Jesus is depicted as a prophet. . John was written last and presents the son (The Word) as having existed even before the incarnation. Hick’s argument is that Jesus being the son of God in a unique sense was a later invention and thus an idea of human origin.
However, even in Mark, often thought by New Testament scholars to be the first gospel written, there are presentations of Jesus that seem to suggest his divinity. During Jesus’ baptism God speaks and says: “you are my beloved son, with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). Jesus quiets a storm like God does in the story of Jonah and walks on water like God does in the book of Job.
Bart Ehrman defends the development argument, claiming that it only applies to what Jesus said about himself, not to what the narrative features gospels like Mark suggest about Jesus. Ehrman argues that such features of Mark’s gospel show that Mark understands Jesus to be divine, but that does not show that Jesus himself thought of himself as divine. It is only in gospel of John that Jesus makes clear statements of divine self-identification and although there is dispute over the dating of the first gospels there is considerable agreement that John was written last and is therefore subject to this development criticism, focused on what Jesus said about himself.
jesus miracles
miracles of Jesus arguably show he was the son of God. He walked on water, turned water into wine, raised people from the dead. A mere human would not have the power to do such things. Jesus’ power to do miracles presumably also shows he thought of himself as divine.
but Old testament prophets also did miracles. Couldn’t Jesus’ miracles at most show that he was a prophet, as is thought in the Islamic religion? Moses parted the red sea to help the Jews escape from slavery in Egypt. This is a miracle, yet no Christian thinks it shows that Moses is the son of God.
however Jesus had unique control over miracles. Moses parted the red sea, but only under God’s instruction, God telling Moses to raise his staff. Jesus’ power to do miracles seems to be totally under his control. This is most clearly seen in the turning of water into wine miracle because he was reluctant to do it at first before then deciding to do it. This makes it seem that the power to do miracles is completely under Jesus’ control in a unique way.
humes ‘essay on miracles’ argued that because we have no present day, direct experience of miracles, it is not possible to trust the accounts of jesus’ miracles. people do not truly walk on water today
edward schillebeekx suggested miracles can be interpreted as having a spiritual or metaphorical meaning for today rather than just a past event. jesus is the source of calm in daily life.
reimarus view
18th Century German Philosopher
Reimarus believed that Jesus was just a human who was deluded about being the Messiah. After the Crucifixion, his disciples hid his body so they could pretend he had been resurrected. The disciples then edited Jesus’ claims about an impending apocalypse, transforming them into claims about timeless spiritual truths.
Reimarus points out that Jesus only did miracles to those who already had faith. When ‘sensible’ ‘learned’ people requested a miracle for examination, Jesus refused, so no sensible or learned people could believe in him. Jesus’ miracles were only written down 30-60 years after his death, and in a language that Palestinian Jews could not understand. It was also a time of ‘greatest disquietude and confusion’ where very few who knew Jesus still lived. The gospel authors thus had little fear of being understood or refuted, especially considering they also told Christians that it was soul-saving to just believe and have faith. This made it easy for the gospel authors to ‘invent’ the miracles of Jesus, whether out of well-intentioned deceit or simply their own credulity.
how the churches resolved the question of jesus’ humanity and divinity
most christian churches follow the agreement established by the major ecumenical councils
the first council of nicea in ad325 resolved that Jesus was of the same substance as the father - homoousios
the council of chalcedon in ad451 affirmed that christ is aknowledged in two natures, which come together into one person and one hypostasis. jesus was not a mix or blend
‘truly god and truly man’ - the Oecumencial documents of the faith
the ressurection
According to the Bible, Jesus rose from the dead three days after being crucified. This is often seen as the most important Christian doctrine. St Paul went as far as to claim that if the resurrection did not happen then faith is pointless - ‘and if christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith’- 1 corinthians 15:14. The traditional argument is that Jesus rising from the dead shows that he was the son of God in a unique sense
N.T. Wright defends the son of God view on the basis that the resurrection can be justifiably believed in as a historical event. Wright’s argument for the resurrection as a historical event is that the Jewish theological beliefs on the Messiah and resurrection of the early Christians underwent radical “mutations” that were completely contrary to and thus could not have been derived from traditional Jewish thought. Wright claims that these astonishing transformations in what was a very conservative religion must “force the historian … to ask, why did they occur”. Wright’s proposal is that they occurred because the bodily resurrection of Jesus really happened and the Gospel authors simply wrote down what happened. - the way the disciples regrouped and rapidly changed their traditional worship to focus on Jesus shows it happened
The empty tomb and the post-mortem appearances are also part of Wright’s case for the resurrection. The empty tomb being discovered by women followers in what was a patriarchal society where women’s testimony was not valued in court suggests it was not made up. If it were made up, the authors would have made it men who discovered the empty tomb. Wright concludes:
“that is why as a historian I cannot explain the rise of early Christianity unless Jesus rose again, leaving an empty tomb behind him.” – Wright.
however,
Some argue that Jesus’ post-mortem appearances to the disciples could have been some kind of visionary/religious hallucination and therefore not credible as historical evidence.
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what was the extent of Jesus’ self-knowledge
karl rahner suggests a genuinly human consciousness must have an unknown future in front of it. if Jesus was conscious of god the fathers awareness all the time, then his view of life can hardly be called a human one.
rahners solution is to think of an onion, with its many layers. psychologists sometimes describe human self awareness as layered. we have deep within us better understandings of our self which are not on the surface of our consciousness. the uncertainty in the desert or on the cross makes sense if jesus’ human self-consciousness was close to the surfcae but his divine conciousness was deep within.
Jesus the teacher of wisdom - a rabbi with a special message
jesus is sometimes described as a ‘rabbi’ as he provided guidance and advice on moral problems - Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here’ - mark 9:5
jesus could clearly read and he spent time teaching in synagogues wi
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Jesus’ moral teaching
The Parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11–32) shows Jesus’ teachings on repentance and forgiveness.
The sermon on the mount, including the beatitudes - Jesus taught his followers the Lord’s Prayer and many parables
These moral teachings suggest that Jesus was a teacher of wisdom.
Although Jesus gave moral teachings, they are not the teachings that a mere human teacher of wisdom would have the right to give. For example, Jesus said “You have heard it said, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also” (Matthew 5:38-39). To take the teachings of Moses and then say ‘But I tell you’ and then give a teaching that completely contradicts those of Moses implies that Jesus thinks of himself as having greater authority than Moses. Arguably only God has that much authority.
C. S. Lewis’ trilemma develops this kind of point. Lewis argued against the view that Jesus was merely a moral teacher, which he regarded as ‘patronizing nonsense’ and an incoherent interpretation of Jesus’ sayings. - Jesus was either God, insane or evil. He cannot be only a moral teacher. - ‘a man who is merely a man and said the sort of things jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg or else he would be the devil of hell’
There are other options however, such as that Jesus’ belief that he was divine was an honest mistake that he was genuinely deluded about - he could have been a mere human teacher of wisdom who mostly taught good morals but also incorrectly thought himself divine.
Jesus the liberator
commonly interpreted as a liberator, someone who wanted to free people from social convention, religous restriction, political domination and someone who wanted to liberate people from sin and death
there are many examples of Jesus being involved in arguments with pharisees and scribes over religous law. he was arrested and handed over to pontius pilate. he was a figure of political, religous and social challenge
Jesus and the challenge to political authority
at the time the jewish people lived under roman occupation. there were unpopular roman taxes and mixed feelings towards them. the situation deteriorated with assassinations, murders and series of open military rebellions. the final great revolt led to 10s of thousands of people being enslaved, over a million deaths and the jerusalem temple being burned down in ad73. one of the leading groups involved in open conflict with the romans was the zealots.
they were likely not an organised group at the time of jjesus but there would of been similar people in his lifetime.
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a political revolutionary?
this might seem to clash with his usual depiction as a loving and caring person. however it is possible the way jesus was understood by his followers changed over time perhaps the early church tried to hide jesus’ revolutionaru tendencies in an effort to evade persecution.
there are links between Jesus and the zealots cause. jesus did suggest a revolution ‘i did not come to bring peace, but a sword’ matthew 10:34
jesus’ followers had weapons which they used to used to defend themselves in Gethsemane against the arresting authorities.
jesus’ followers have ‘suspicious’ names eg simon the zealot and judas iscariot and iscarii - ‘dagger men’ - was another name for zealots.
in the bible jesus’ titles link him to revolution
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