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Christian

Thought:

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The person of Jesus Christ

Key TermsLiberator:

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Redemption:

Word:

Incarnation:

Son of God:

Remember you have additional key terms from your research task

Jesus’ knowledge of God“we, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly

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man, of a reasonable (rational) soul and body; consubstantial (coessential) with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably;…”

Phillip Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, with a history and Critical notes, Volume II, The History of Creeds, 1876

Page 362-363 - Summarise the debate about how Jesus knows God below:

How human was Jesus?Page 363 - What issues would arise if Jesus was not God?

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Bishop Apollinaris of Laodicea:

Gregory of Nazianzen:

Page 364 - How the churches resolved the question of Jesus’ humanity and divinity

What was the extent of Jesus’ self-knowledge?

Karl Rahner:

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Rahner implies that if Jesus was fully conscious of his divine nature all the time he lived, he wouldn’t be like a real human because real humans live with uncertainty. Do you agree? Discuss this idea.

How convincing is Rahner’s ‘onion’ solution?

Gerald O’Collins challenge:

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Write a line from the quote on page 366 and summarise his conclusion:

MiraclesMark 7:37

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Acts 10:38

Mark 6:47-52

Interpretation of accounts

Hume:

Edward Schillebeeckx

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N. T. Wright

Resurrection“The Easter mystery throws a new and final light on the whole story of Jesus and his mission”

Gerald O’Collins, Christology, 1995

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Christians find many meanings in the Resurrection and it relates to a range of different theologies including those that relate to salvation, redemption and God’s activity in the world. It also has specific meanings for the authority and divinity of Jesus.

“It establishes and undergrids the Christian Hope…it enables the death of Christ upon the cross to be interpreted in terms of God’s victory over death [and] it gives both foundation and substance to the Christian hope of eternal life”

Alister McGrath, 1996

Jesus the teacher of wisdomMake notes on pages 370-373, include references.

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The myth of God incarnate is the story of the pre-existent divine Son descending into human life, dying to atone for the sins of the world, thereby revealing the divine nature, and returning into the eternal life of the Trinity. The mythic story expresses the significance of a point in history where we can see human life lived in faithful response to God and see God’s nature reflected in that human response…to the extent that a man or a woman is to God what one’s own hand is to oneself, to that extent God is ‘incarnate’ in that human life. The idea of the incarnation of God in the life of Jesus, so understood, is thus not a

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metaphysical claim about Jesus having two natures, but a metaphorical statement of the significance of a life through which God was acting on earth. In Jesus we see a man living in a startling degree of God and of response to God’s presence.

John Hick, The Metaphor of God Incarnate, 2012

Questions:

1. What kind of meaning is Hick in favour of and what kind does he propose?

2. How are the two meanings different (the traditional and the one Hick advocates)?

3. How would you describe the kind of interpretation that Hick gives of Jesus?

Responses to Hick

Page 374-375 - Use quotes and names to summarise the responses to Hick

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Jesus the liberatorA political revolutionary?

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Evaluating the political challenge claims

A social revolutionary?

Biblical SupportCompare what Jesus says to the Samaritan woman about worship and the Temple (John 4:1-26) with what he does with the money changers (Mark 11:15-19; Matthew 21:12-17; Luke 19:45-48).

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Compare what Jesus says about maintaining the law (Matthew 22:37-40), fulfilling the law (Matthew 5:17-20), and ensuring the law serves man (Matthew 12:1-13 and Mark 2:23-28).

Examine how Jesus acts towards women (Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48), the sick (Matthew 9:18-23; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 17:11-19), the ‘immoral’ (Luke 7:36-50; Luke 19:1-10; Matthew 9:10).

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Examine how his actions and teaching might be different interpreted as showing continuation (in line with traditional religious understanding), modification (adapting to a new understanding but retaining the importance of traditional religious understandings) or supersession (replacing previous religious understandings).

Discussing the person of Jesus ChristPage 381 - Was Jesus only a teacher of wisdom?

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Page 381-382 – Was Jesus more than a political liberator?

Page 382 – Was Jesus’ relationship with God very special or truly unique?

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Page 383 - Did Jesus think he was divine?

The person of Jesus Christ – Essay PlanTo what extent can Jesus be regarded as no more than a teacher of wisdom?

INTRODUCTION

PARA 1:

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PARA 2:

PARA 3:

PARA 4:

PARA 5:

PARA 6:

PARA 7:

PARA 8:

PARA 9:

PARA 10:

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PARA 11:

PARA 12:

Conclusion: Restate your argument and summarise.

Make sure you directly answer the question!

You will need to develop a line of argument in which you consider whether ‘teacher of wisdom’ was all that Jesus was, or whether he had other roles such as ‘miracle worked’, ‘political leader’ or even ‘Son of God’. Your own personal beliefs are obviously important, but you need to be able to justify your argument here with reasoning and examples rather than just assertions of faith or absence of faith.