Jesus

• for christians, jesus christ is recognised as a fundamental source of authority, there are three ways in which jesus is considered to have authority: as the son of God, being the teacher of wisdom and authority, as the liberator


  jesus' authority
• the nature of Jesus' relationship with God is called christology, there are broadly two kings of christoligy: christology from above (focuses on jesus' divinity and god's act of bringing humanity back into a relationship with the divine), christology from below (focuses on jesus' message and teaching, focusing on how people respond to jesus)


  christology
• jesus as the son of god

  'jesus the son of god' was the title given to jesus in the new testament and by the early church, linking to the christian doctrine of the trinity and the incarnation of the divine
• in john's gospel, jesus makes a number of great statements, beginning with 'i am', especially powerful because it is reminiscent of god's description of himself to moses when he reveals his name (exodus), jesus also says 'the father and i are one' and 'whoever has seen me has also seen the father'


  biblical evidence of jesus as the son of god
• even christians who hold a high christology position realise the difficulty of claiming jesus knew he was the son of god if at the same time was fully human, if jesus was divine, did he really die on the cross from crucifixion?

  problems with jesus as both human and divine
• christians have no problem accepting christ as holy, however they have problems accepting him as a human being at the same time

  zeffirellli
• both wrote that humans have inherently flawed, corrupt and sinful natures- so did Jesus also have these human qualities? this would seem incoherent and illogical, contradictory with his divine nature, perhaps humanity/ mortality and divinity are incompatible

  st paul and augustine
• suggests that a genuine human consciousness must have an unknown future, if jesus had his father's awareness of all time, he could not be called human. rainier proposed a solution through the idea of an onion: onions have many layers of skin, rahner likens the onion to jesus and suggests jesus' human consciousness was his top layer, deeper lies his layers of divine consciousness


  possible solutions to jesus' nature: karl rahner
• hick recognised that, if jesus was only aware of god's will, then he would be no different from other religious figures such as moses and mohammed, hick's confusion is that christianity without the incarnation becomes just like any other religion, in order for christianity to be different, we must think of jesus as both human and divine


  possible solutions to jesus' nature- hick
• rejected the arguments of anyone who accepted jesus as a moral teacher but not the son of god, he said 'a man who is merely a man and said the things jesus said would not be a great moral teacher; he would either be a lunatic (on the level with the man who said he was a poached egg) or he would be the devil of hell, therefore jesus had to have had some divine element


  possible solutions to jesus' nature- cs lewis
• for christians, miracles are seen to represent the divine power of god, in tradition christianity the disciples observed the 'mighty works' that jesus performed as confirmation of his divinity and status as the son of god


  miracles
• argues that jesus' miracles present a greater authority than a mere human one

  nt wright
• states 'miracles bear witness that jesus is indeed the son of god'


  the catechism of the church
• traditionally, mary's birth to jesus is a miracle: she is a virgin and therefore the conception and pregnancy is the result of the holy spirit, mary does not merely conceive another human but god in human form, this is why she is described as 'theotokos' or god bearer


  miracles: birth and incarnation
• in the gospel of john jesus himself describes this action as god working through him

  miracles- healing the blind
• in the gospel of mark

  miracles- jesus walking on water
• of all miracles in the bible, jesus' resurrection is the most importance for christians, it served as a final confirmation of jesus as the son of god, revealing him as a transformed and glorified being, it also created certainty in the future kingdom of god (heaven)

  miracles- jesus' resurrection
• argues that jesus' resurrection is a 'visible and unambiguous' sign of jesus' divinity

  pannennburg
• perhaps miracles should be seen in a metaphorical and spiritual way as opposed to a literal way, for example jesus' ability to heal the blind could metaphorically represent the replenished insight of his followers, whilst jesus' walking on water could metaphorically represent how god's spirit hovers over his creation, thus miracles may not necessarily prove jesus' divinity


  miracles as metaphorical
• within matthew's gospel, summaries most of jesus' main teachings, begins with he beatitudes, jesus says: blesses are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, those who are persecuted for their righteousness


  jesus' moral teaching- the sermon on the mount
• the term repentance in greek is 'metanoia', meaning a radical change of mind, more than merely saying sorry, but a desire to change a whole way of life, jesus gave many illustrations of repentance and forgiveness, e.g. jesus' parable of the lost son describes a son who, having squandered his inherentence on a selfish lifestyle, realises his only hope is to return to his father's house and beg for forgiveness, jesus taught that forgiveness and mercy should always come first and we shoould not judge others without looking at our own shortcomings first, for example in john's gospel jesus states to a group who are about to stone an adulterer to death 'those among you who are without sin be the first to throw the stone at her', when asked how many times a sin should be forgiven, jesus said 'seventy times seven'


  jesus' moral teaching- forgiveness, mercy and repentance
• jesus taught unconditional love, not romantic or erotic love but agape, utterly selfless, every situation should be judged relatively

  jesus' moral teaching- agape
• the sabbath day was considered holy and ensured that everyone in society was entitled to a day free from labour, however jesus argued that too many used the sabbath law as a means of avoiding social responsibility, jesus reminded his followers that 'the sabbath was made for the man and not man for the sabbath', jesus therefore healed on the sabbath when the occasion required it, he was aware of the risks (one being the death penalty), but wanted to show that morality requires personal responsibility, not blind obedience to rules


  jesus' moral teaching- personal responsibility
• we should act in the service of others in humility, not for pride, reward or praise, 'now that i, your lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another's feet', this demonstrates how christians should serve one another


  jesus' moral teaching- service and humility
• importance should be pleased on a spiritual life and a genuine love towards god, not on material worldly goods which only serve to make us greedy and selfish, 'it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven' (matthew)


  jesus' moral teaching- spirituality not materialism
• many argue that jesus' authority was not political but purely spiritual


  arguments against jesus the liberator
• at his trial when pilate asked jesus if he was the king of the jews, jesus replied 'my kingdom is not from this world', indicating that he had no purpose on earth as a social or political revolutionist


  arguments against jesus the liberator- jesus' trial
• in the sermon on the mount, jesus says 'blessed are the peace makers', signalling that jesus was a pacifist


  arguments against jesus the liberator- sermon on the mount
• in the garden at gethsemane when jesus was arrested his scolded one of his disciples for drawing his sword, signalling that jesus rejected activism or revolution


  arguments against jesus the liberator- jesus' arrest
• it must be noted that jesus did not actually join the Zealots to drive away the Romans, possibly because the presentation of jesus as a political activist fails to separate him from the rest, we still talk about jesus, but not the zealots


  arguments against jesus the liberator- not a zealot
• arguably, jesus' teaching was not merely spiritual preparation for an age to come, but a call to challenge the oppressive structures of current society


  argument for jesus the liberator
• much of jesus' life, as presented by the gospels, was spent in conflict with the jewish authorities over the application of law and then finally with the roman authorities who put him to death on the grounds of rebellion, thus jesus was put to death for a civic crime and not a religious one, this points to his desire for political and social revolution


  arguments for jesus the liberator- jesus' execution
• the bible on many occasions points towards jesus' advocation the political and social change, some of his most memorable parables death with those who were considered to be on the fringes of society, for example in the parable of the good samaritan, a man is beaten and left for death: two jewish officials fail to offer the man love or generosity, whilst the samaritan dismisses religious rules and treats the man's wounds, by using the samaritan as an example of exemplary model behaviour, jesus' teachings are seen to radically undermine and dismantle oppressive conventions and laws


  arguments for jesus the liberator- biblical evidence
• the idea that jesus was a social and political revolutionary is attractive in parts of the world faced with exploitation, many find inspiration int he zealot- type presentation of jesus (zealot= jewish political group who wished to rid palestine of roman occupation)


  arguments for jesus the liberator- zealot
• liberation theologians describe jesus' bias towards the poor and marginalised as the preferential option for the poor


  arguments for jesus the liberator- libration theologians
• argued that the historical jesus was a politically driven freedom fighter and liberator of the marginalised, however many presentations of him in the gospels tone this down to inaccurately depict him as a pacifist


  arguments for jesus the liberator- brandon
• by thinking of jesus as a liberator, the church ensures that the christ of faith is fully engaged in affairs of the world, off says that 'a christoloy that proclaims jesus christ as a liberator serves to retain the theological relevance in current society'


  arguments for jesus the liberator- boff
• if jesus was alive today, he would be a guerrilla'


  arguments for jesus the liberator- restrepo