CHRISTOLOGY:The Christ of the New Testament Was the Christ whom the Church confessed in faith, both within

n the New Testament and beyond it, the same Jesus of Nazareth whose sheer historical facticity no one seriously challenges? Did the primitive and postbiblical Church create a Christ who is divine from Jesus who was purely human? And what of Jesus himself? How did he estimate his own significance? Were the words and claims which the New Testament places on the lips of the carpenters son really the words claims of Jesus, or were they the words and claims of the Church read back into the life and ministry of Jesus? What connection, if any, can we establish between the Churchs evaluation of Jesus and Jesus own evaluation of himself?

New Testament The most important source for the life of Jesus, therefore, remains the New Testament itself, and the four Gospels in the particular Provide us instead with the testimony of faith. Their purpose is not to reconstruct the life of Jesus in every chronologically accurate detail, but to illustrate the eternal significance of Jesus through selected examples of his preaching, his activities, and the impact of both upon his contemporaries The Gospels were written by men of faith for women and men of faith They are complex documents because of their peculiar purpose, because of the diversity of their origin and the audiences to which they were initially addressed, and because of the various stages of development they passed through before reaching the form in which we have them Stages of Development Three stages of development culminating in the actual writing of the Gospels: 1. The original words and deeds of Jesus; 2. The oral proclamation of the Apostles and disciples (catechesis, narratives, testimonies, hymns, doxologies, and prayers) 3. The writings themselves Depending upon ones point of view, the stages can be expand to five stages 1. The period of direct contact and communication between Jesus and thedisciples and others 2. The emergence of an oral tradition following the resurrection, a period in which there were no significant writings because the expectationof the second coming or return of Christ was intense and vivid 3. The hardening of the oral tradition into the shape of accepted doctrinecommunicated through letters (epistles), which were written forspecific occasions and audiences and not for posterity 4. The writing of the Gospels as soon as it became clear that the Lord was notabout to return very soon, a period in which the first generation ofChristians was dying out and a new generation, with no direct contactwith, or memories of, Jesus was coming on the scene 5. The completion of the New Testament canon (official collection of books accepted by the Church as inspired) with the composition of the Pastoral epistles (Timothy and Titus) and 2 Peter, a period in which the Church is newly conscious of itself as a society, still threatened from without and from within Layers of Tradition The Pontifical Biblical Commission

openly admits that we do not have in the written Gospels the words and deeds of Jesus as exactly and as completely as they were first uttered and performed, nor do we even have the full and exact record of what was communicated orally between the death and resurrection, on the one hand, and the actual composition of the Gospels, on the other. What we have, rather, is the finally edited version given by the evangelists 1. The first layer of tradition is made accessible through historical criticism 2. The second layer of tradition is discovered through a method known as form criticism a. Form Criticism is essentially a means of analyzing typical features of the biblical texts ( hymns, acclamations, sayings of Jesus, dialogues, Old Testament allusions, etc.) in order to relate to them to their original situation in life 3. The third layer of tradition is examined through the method of redaction criticism a. Redaction criticism tries to discover the dominant ideas which governed the final editing of the Gospels as we have them today Different Cultures: There are different cultures at work in the production of the NT Sayings of Jesus Criteria for establishing authentic sayings of the historical Jesus 1. Saying which contain Aramaicisms characteristic of the Palestine of Jesusday are more likely to have their origin in Jesus. (personal style of Jesus). 2. The shorter or shortest of two or different accounts of the same incident isprobably the one closer or closest to the source, since author tend toexpand and explain. 3. Saying or principles attributed to Jesus which are contrary to the developing source of embarrassment for it, are usually more authentic than thosewhich clearly give support to current attitudes. (criterion ofembarrassment ) 4. The same as true of elements in the message of Jesus which make a break with the accepted traditions and customs of Judaism( although this criterion must be used with caution since we are ill-informed about popular Jewish-Aramaic religious practices and vocabulary in early 1st century Galilee 5. Words and deeds which are attested to by many different sources probably have a strong historical basis. (multiple attestation) 6. Negatively, sayings which reflect the faith, practices, and situation of the post resurrection Church cannot be taken always at face value

Conservative right position; posit a real relationship between Jesus self-evaluation and the NT Churchs Christology Liberal left, deny any real relationship or continuity between the two

Non-scholarly Conservatismidentifies the Christology of the NT with Jesus own self-evaluation; no significant Christological development in that time Non-scholarly Liberalismrejects the Christ of faith in order to save the notion of the Jesus of history; no continuity at all between the Christology of the NT and Jesus self-evaluation Scholarly Liberalism does not dismiss the Christology of the NT as unimportant Christology of the NT is a mistaken evaluation of Jesus which does not stand in real continuity with the self-evaluation of Jesus NT Christology is a creation of the early Church Moderate Conservatism posits a discernible continuity between the self-evaluation of Jesus and the Christology of the early Church There is some differences of opinion within the moderate conservative group 1. those for whom the Church Christology is explicit in Jesus self-evaluation

2. those for whom the Churchs Christology is only implicit in Jesus self-understanding
IMPLICIT school: Jesus did not express his self-understanding in terms of titles or accepts titles attributed to him by others. Rather he conveyed what he was by speaking with unique authority and by acting with unique power Second Vatican Council anticipated the implicit approach Jesus perfected revelation by fulfilling it through His whole work of making Himself present and manifesting Himself: through His words and deeds But regardless of whether one detects explicit or implicit Christology in the self-evaluation of Jesus, the line of continuity between his self-understanding and the early Churchs subsequent proclamation is more firmly secure The Question of Method (Two Directions) Traditional Approach take up the life and teaching of Jesus, beginning with the Gospel accounts NT contains no biography of Jesus What we have are testimonies of faith, constituted from fragments of the oral and written traditions which developed after Jesus death and resurrection. It is Jesus as he was remembered by the earliest Christians and as he was experienced in their communities of faith whom we meet in the Gospels Second Course one that begins with the faith of the Church as expressed in the NT and moves from there to the message, mission, and person of Jesus as the source of that faith The faith of the Church is centred on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This is the first kerygma or proclamation of the early Church

THE RESURRECTION I. Its Meaning and Importance The pre-Vatican theology viewed resurrection in apologetical terms that is simply the strongest possible corroboration of Jesus messianic claims. It had no importance in itself in the work of redemption. We were redeemed by the cross, and by the cross alone

Contemporary theologycommonly understands the resurrection as central to, not simply confirmatory of, Christian faith, and as the beginning, not the end, of the story. On the basis of their experience of the resurrection, these disciples would see the life and death of Jesus in a whole new light. Paul was even more explicit about the centrality and utterly crucial importance of the resurrection for Christ faith Under the impact of the resurrection everything falls into place At first such titles as these where functional; i.e. they described what Jesus had done. Then they become confessional It was because of the early Churchs faith in the resurrection that it came to acknowledge the divinity of Jesus. And once the Church acknowledges the divinity of Jesus, it began laying the foundations for the doctrine of the incarnation, which sees Jesus as the Word made flesh (Jn.1:14)

II.

Varieties of Interpretation within the New Testament different culturesgenerate distinctive theological viewpoints regarding the meaning of Jesus

 III.

it is the Easter experience which provides the foundation for Christology

IV.

Palestinian Community Sense of the imminence of the second coming of Jesus. Jesus is identified as the Son of Man The center of its Eucharistic worship is the maranatha prayer, Come, Lord Jesus The more important and central to the Palestinian Christology was its confession of Jesus as the Messiah (Acts. 3:20) or the Christ (the anointed) Another title applied to Jesus by the Palestinian community; were Prophet (Acts. 3: 22-24) and Servant (3:26) Jewish-Hellenistic Community Greek-speaking Jewish converts to Christianity The delay of the Parousia seemed to require a major theological shift away from emphasis on the Second Coming of Jesus in the future to the present exalted state of Jesus Jesus is the one who is already Lord (Kyrios) and Christ (Acts. 2:36), for he is even now exalted at the right hand of God the title Lord, the Greek speaking Jews were attributing divine status to Jesus Hellenistic-Gentile Community Christological development occurs within the Hellenistic-Gentile community, under the impact of the missionary activity of the Pauline and Johannine schools of theology Philippians 2:5-11 - three decked Hellenistic cosmology: heaven, earth, and the underworld threefold division of Jesus existence his pre-existence his becoming flesh in incarnation his exaltation following his death and resurrection What was only hinted at the early stages of Jewish-Hellenistic Christology is fully developed in Hellenistic-Gentile Christology: the earthly life of Jesus is itself already and exalted form of existence, although veiled In Johns Gospel this so called high Christology is full blown There is a correlative reinterpretation of the titles as employed by the earlier Christologies: Son of Man is portrayed as the one who descended from heaven (Jn.3:13), and when he ascends, it will be to where he was before (Jn.6:62) Christ became a proper name for Jesus Son of God takes a higher meaning than it once enjoyed in the OT Lord becomes entirely central Thus, for the Hellenistic-Gentile Church God is even now present exercising lordship over the universe in and through Jesus Christ, who is the risen and exalted Lord

V.

VI.

RESURRECTION ITSELF The resurrection is a saving event because it is not until Jesus has received the fullness of life which is properly His as Son of God and Son of Man that his redemptive work is complete The resurrection is the principle of our own new being Jesus is the resurrection and life. Those who believe in him will be raised on the last day the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ Its Historicity:Did it happen? Something happened after the death of Jesus The tomb was found empty on Easter morning

VII.

Pauline confession 1Cor. 15: 3-8 in A.D. 35 the year of Pauls conversion to Christ, attest to the resurrection of Christ The proof is to be found in the transformation of Pauls life from persecutor of Christians to Apostle

What Happened?The question is, is it a historical event? The answer has to be NO if by historical one means an event that can be verifiable by photographed or by anything the same of sort (tangible) In resurrection, Jesus is said to have entered an entirely new mode life, a spiritual existence in which he becomes the source of freedom and glory for all of us To concede that resurrection was not a historical event in our ordinary sense of historical event (something open to scientific investigation and verifiable by neutral witnesses) does not mean that the resurrection was not a real event for Jesus with historical implication for others - the appearances are not to people in general, but to particular individuals, in particular places, at particular times - to speak of the resurrection as trans-historical, or meta-historical rather than unhistorical - It is trans-historical, or meta-historical, in the sense that it refers to an event that took place on the other side of death and therefore, which lies beyond the confines of space and time VIII. To Whom Did It Happen? - Some have argued that it did not happen to Jesus but to his disciples - the mystery of resurrection means that the early Church in particular the Apostles and disciples were suddenly enlightened regarding the meaning of Jesus life and death - The question of the bodiliness of the resurrection is a very important one. If it was a bodily occurrence, then it was something that did happen to Jesus, and not to his disciples - The bodily element is clear in the description of some of the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus - It also counteracts the Greek tendency to spiritualize everything, to make of the resurrection an abstract, non-corporeal event - The physical emphasis also challenges certain Gnostic interpretation of Jesus - The resurrection, after all, was not resuscitation of the corpse - This contrary emphasis on the difference between Jesus historical existence and his risen existence safeguards against a too-physical understanding of the resurrection, and stresses the Pauline teaching that Jesus underwent a marvellous transformation Subjectivist and Objectivist The subjectivist has to ignore the accounts of the appearances, especially the case of Paul (e.g. Gal. 1:13-16) and James (1Cor. 15:7), it had resisted belief in the resurrection as well as the empty tomb The objectivist, or fundamentalist, oversimplifies the NT and simply ignores the manner in which it was put together Who Saw It Happened? The Gospel do not agreeregarding the places where Jesus appeared after the resurrection, nor regarding the persons to whom he appeared common elementsin the accounts of the appearances First, those to whom he appears are in a state of depression or at least

IX.

X.

Second, it is always Jesus who initiates the appearances Third, Jesus gives some form of greetings, e.g., Peace be with you Fourth, a moment of recognition follows Finally, Jesus gives a word of command to go forth and make disciples Regarding the last item: Did Jesus actually (speak) during these appearances? Did the risen Lord communicate with the Apostles verbally, or did he communicate intuitively? We have seen the Lord the appearances involve insight that is revelatory, i.e. an experience of God within ordinary human experience Mary Magdalene - a major witness does not deny the authority of Peter, nor does it deny that he was the recipient of a post-resurrection appearance. But it does show the complementary roles of women, Peter, and other disciples as witnesses to the risen Christ Where Did It Happen? the empty tomb accounts are full of inconsistencies and embellishments The significance of the empty tomb traditionis, at best, a secondary piece of evidence, second certainly to the appearances The empty tomb was more important for the first Christians For them it was yet another safeguard against the Gnostic denial of the bodiliness of Jesus and his resurrection In the genesis of faith in the resurrection, it was the appearances of the risen Lord that first brought the disciples to believe; this belief, in turn, made sense of the empty tomb

XI.

THE PASSION AND DEATH The doctrine of the cross was not the earliest Christology to emerge from faith in the resurrection but was something developed only by degrees, it is inextricably linked with resurrection faith and is at the same time entirely central to the NTs evaluation of the life, message and mission of Jesus. 1 Cor. 15:3-8 contains a primitive creedal formula, which confesses the faith that Christ died for our sins. Phil. 2:6-11 is one of the earliest attempts to make sense of the death of Jesus, not as Paul would usually have it, i.e. for our sins but the culmination of Jesus life of obedient humiliation within the human condition I. Reasons for His Condemnation To suggest that he was executed only or even primarily because of his political attitudes and behaviour toward the Roman government, as a Zealot or as a sympathizer, does not correspond with his preaching against violence (to love ones enemies). His problem was primarily with the Jews rather than the Romans. That is how the Gospel present it, and that is how early Jewish antagonist of Christianity recalled it as well. Jews were seeking to kill Jesus because: 1. 2. 3. 4. He functioned as a prophet greater than Moses. He claimed to forgive sins. He criticized the religious situation as he found it in contemporary Israel. He break the Sabbath law and call God his own Father and thus making himself equal to God 5. He commits blasphemy they charge

II.

Jesus had been on a collision course from the beginning of his public ministry. He preached the Kingdom of God in a wholly new way, as a reality that now come near, demanding repentance and faith Jesus Death and Our Redemption In the NT, Jesus death is interpreted in redemptive categories, as a work of the atonement for our sin The idea of vicarious atonement, i.e. the sufferings of an innocent person having redeeming value for the sins of others, was already well accepted in Judaism of Jesus day OT figures came to the surface, particularly the notion of ransom and the associated idea of redemption. A Marcan saying (10:45) is taken up by the Gospel (Mt. 20:28), with parallels elsewhere (1Tim. 2:6) to show that Jesus understood his own mission as giving his life for the ransom for many Ransom in the NT world of commerce would mean as the price that had to be paid to buy back a pawned object or to liberate a slave. Thus Christ is seen as the ransom given to liberate us all from the slavery of sin In summary, the Churchs faith in the saving power of Christs death emerged from its initial faith in the resurrection, and not from any general sense of need for deliverance from sin or from some wide-ranging exploration of OT text. Jesus death assumes meaning within the context of his resurrection: Unless the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life

III.

THE LIFE AND MESSAGE OF JESUS I. The Historical Situation the Jews had been politically subject to Roman power a widespread expectation of a political messiah the Zealots wanted to throw off the yoke of Roman domination and by violent revolutionary means The Jews of Jesus day were proud of their religious and national traditions and they tried to resist the pervasive influence of Greek culture Life Message Proclamation of the Kingdom of God there is a general agreement among NT scholars that four sayings concerning it are authentic - the exercise of divine power on our behalf - an apocalyptic symbol referring to Gods final act of redemption at the end of the world - it is a symbol filled with hope - God, acting as King, visits and redeems his people as a loving Father The Parables Jesus taught in parables, but the early Church translated many of them into allegories Both the allegorizing of the parables and their placement and application within the Gospels are the work of the Church and the evangelist The fundamental element in a parable is the element of metaphor There is in every parable a literal point (what it means in itself) and a metaphorical point (what it refers to) The purpose of a parable is normally pedagogical. But Jesus used parables not only for instruction but also for proclamation Proverbial Sayings A proverb is a saying that gives insight into ordinary human situations

II.

III.

IV. V.

In general, proverbs are affirmations of faith in Gods rule over the world Proverbs contains:the element of challenge; element of conflict; the instructional sayings Table Fellowship and Miracles Miracles in the Bible There is no word as such for miracles in the Bible. It speaks only of signs, wonder, portent, works of power, or simply works. There are three major clusters of miracles in the Bible; Those acts by which Yahweh delivered Israel from Egypt and led Israel to Canaan (the Exodus experience.) (OT) Elijah-Elisha stories which present the confrontation between Yahwism and Baalism. (OT) The miracles of Jesus and his earliest disciples which are linked with the in breaking of the reign of God. Most miracles in the OT are sagas or legends celebrating Israels origin and its heroes and heroines. NT miracles are usually grouped into overarching category of miracle stories and then subdivided into exorcisms, healings, epiphanies (divine manifestation), nature miracles NT authors use miracle stories to make a religious point

Biblical and Theological Criteria 1. Miracles were as important to the ministry of Jesus as his preaching. The express the saving power of God shown in Jesus healing, feeding the hungry, curing the sick, even raising the dead. 2. Miracles are linked with faith. If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me (Jn. 10:37). On the other hand, it is possible to be present at the performance of miracles and not see it as miracles at all. 3. The miracle stories are meant to evoke faith, but not all of the stories are on the same plane. Fundamentalist forgets that the biblical accounts are not eyewitness reports, nor scientifically tested documentation nor historical, medical, or psychological records. They are rather unsophisticated popular narratives, entirely at the service of the proclamation of the Lordship of Jesus. 4. But certain events apparently did take place, and they were taken, by friend and foe alike, as marvellous in their own right. The sick were cured, for example. Jesus enemies did not challenge the fact of the cure but the propriety of curing on the Sabbath 5. In the accounts of several of the miracles, too many details are given which have too little interest to have been invented and yet which are so human and true to life that they suggest the presence of an eyewitness. The cure of the possessed boy is a case in point (Mk. 9:14-29). CHRISTOLOGY: Historical Jesus scholarly reconstructions of the 1st-century figure Jesus of Nazareth based upon historical methods including critical analysis of gospel texts as the primary source for his biography, along with consideration of the historical and cultural context in which he lived a Galilean Jew undertook at least one pilgrimage to Jerusalem baptized by John the Baptist began his own preaching in Galilee was an eschatological prophet and an autonomous ethical teacher told surprising and original parables, many of them about the coming Kingdom of God sent his apostles out to heal and to preach the Kingdom of God traveled to Jerusalem where he caused a disturbance at the Temple

the temple guards (believed to be Sadducees) arrested him and turned him over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate for execution

1) The Quest Historical Jesus Operates under the premise that the NT does not necessarily give an accurate historical picture of the life of Jesus. The biblical description of Jesus is sometimes referred to as the Christ of Faith in this context. The Historical Jesus is thus based on the ancient evidence for his life such as fragments of the Gospels. The purpose of research into the Historical Jesus is to examine the evidence from diverse sources and critically bring it together in order to create a composite picture of Jesus the term the Historical Jesus implies that the figure thus reconstructed will differ from that presented in the teaching of the ecumenical councils ("the dogmatic Christ") 2) Scholarly methods The historical Jesus is a historical figure, to be understood in the context of his own lifetime in 1st-century Roman Judaea, not of Christian doctrine of later centuries.
Methods to Critically Analyze the Sources for Historical Jesus:

Other Sources; Criterion of embarrassment; Multiple attestation; Historical context; Linguistic analysis;Author's agenda

3) Origin and Early Life Birth GezaVermes: fictions E. P. Sanders: "the clearest cases of invention in the Gospels" Raymond Brown: "it is unlikely that either account is completely historical", and suggests that the account in Matthew is based on an earlier narrative patterned on traditions about the birth of Moses. Jewish Background: Jesus mostly preached in Galilee Galilee - partially Hellenized territory, was under Roman imperial rule, but there were ongoing hopes of a revival of independent sovereignty In the Judaic religion of Jesus' day the Pharisees Sadducees Essenes Views the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew as "pious

4) Linguistic proficiency Jesus almost certainly spoke Aramaic Jesus might have known at least some Koine Greek There are a number of passages from the Gospels which state or imply that Jesus could at least read the Jesus Seminar and others feel references in the Gospels to Jesus reading and writing may well be fictions John Dominic Crossan; James Dunn; John P. Meier 5) Work as a "carpenter" Jesus is identified in Mark as a (tekton) and in Matthew as the son of a tekton. Tekton has been traditionally translated into English as "carpenter but is a rather general word (from the same root that gives us "technical" and "technology") that at the time could cover makers of objects in various materials, and builders, from tent makers to stone masons Crossan puts tekton into a historical context more resembling an itinerant worker than an established artisan, emphasizing his marginality in a population in which a peasant who owns land could become quite prosperous

6) Ethnicity: Jesus lived in Galilee, north of Judea on the other side of Samaria; Galilean dialect
7) Family background and childhood Jesus' father might have been named Yosef, a common name at the time Jesus' reputed descent from King David would be consistent with an attempt by the authors of Matthew and Luke to show his identity as the Messiah and King of the Jews Jesus' mother was named Mary (Hebrew: Marym), a common name at the time Jesus had "brothers and sisters", as reported in Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55-56. However, whether the verse literally meant brother or another close family member is still debated to this day 4th century, the standard theory was that they were Jesus "brothers" who were sons of Joseph though not of Mary the most commonly accepted view among Catholics is that they were Jesus cousins

8) Ministry: Jesus grew up in Nazareth; went to River Jordan; Sea of Galilee;Capernaum - The
center of his workaround Galilee; Jerusalem - the Davidic capital of the United Monarchy 9) Jesus and John the Baptist Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist; Jesus was apparently a follower of John John Dominic Crossan portrays Jesus as rejecting John's apocalyptic eschatology in favor of a sapiential eschatology, in which cultural transformation results from humans' own actions, rather than from God's intervention Historians consider Jesus' baptism by John to be historical Fredriksen suggests that it was only after Jesus' death that Jesus emerged as more influential than John Scholars posit that Jesus may have been a direct follower in John the Baptist's movement John Dominic Crossan suggests that John the Baptist may have been killed for political reasons, not necessarily the personal grudge given in Mark's gospel 10)Works and Miracles consist of miraculous healing, exorcisms and dominion over other things in nature besides people 3 types of explanation:supernatural events;rationalized; mythical

I.

Christian Gospels: Jesus has God's authoritarian power over nature naturalistic historians, following Strauss:these stories as legend or allegory, or, for some of the miracles they follow the rationalizing method

Jesus Identity 1) Jesus as divine Some scholars interpret Jesus as a charismatic preacher who taught the principles of salvation, everlasting life, and the Kingdom of God E.P. Sanders sees him as accepting a divine role as God's viceroy in the coming kingdom Jrgen Becker sees Jesus taking his authority directly from God M. de Jonge argues that Jesus saw himself as God's final envoy Burton Mack supports the hypothesis of the Messianic secret 2) Messiah "anointed; Messiah was used in different ways Messianic expectations in general centered on the King Messiah

10

3) Son of God Paul describes God as declaring Jesus to be the Son of God by raising him from the dead Sanders argues Mark portrays God as adopting Jesus as his son at his baptism for Jesus to be hailed as the Son of God does not mean that he is literally God's offspring 4) Son of Man Jesus uses "Son of Man" to mean:"I" or a mortal in general; a divine figure destined to suffer;a heavenly figure of judgment soon to arrive Others maintain that Jesus' use of this phrase illustrates Jesus' self-understanding as the divine representative of God 5) Laconic sage A holy man offers cures and exorcisms only when petitioned, and even then may be reluctant. Jesus seems to have displayed a similar style. The Gospels present Jesus engaging in frequent "question and answer" religious debates with Pharisees and Sadducees. The Jesus Seminar believes the debates about scripture and doctrine are rabbinic in style and not characteristic of Jesus

II.

Teachings

1) Parables & paradoxes: parable is a figurative image with a single message; aphorism is a
short, memorable turn of phrase 2) Eschatology Jesus preached mainly about the Kingdom of God:imminent apocalyptic event or the transformation of everyday life Albert Schweitzer, hold that Jesus believed that the end of history was coming within his own lifetime or within the lifetime of his contemporaries The Apostle Paul - end of history was imminent GezaVermes - Jesus' announcement of the imminent arrival of the Kingdom of God "was patently not fulfilled" and "created a serious embarrassment for the primitive church Robert W. Funk wrote that beginning in the 1970s, some scholars have come to reject the view of Jesus as eschatological, pointing out that he rejected the asceticism of John the Baptist and his eschatological message. In this view, the Kingdom of God is not a future state, but rather a contemporary, mysterious presence John Dominic Crossan describes Jesus' eschatology as based on establishing a new, holy way of life rather than on God's redeeming intervention in history The Jesus Seminar - concludes that apocalyptic statements attributed to Jesus could have originated from early Christians, as apocalyptic ideas were common, but the statements about God's Kingdom being mysteriously present cut against the common view and could have originated only with Jesus himself 3) Asceticism Jesus was not an ascetic; Alternatively, he may have been promoting celibacy the Jesus Seminar regard it probable that Jesus was not celibate but instead had a special relationship with Mary Magdalene III. Followers and Audience 1) Table fellowship Open table fellowship with outsiders was central to Jesus' ministry. His practice of eating with the lowly people that he healed defied the expectations of traditional Jewish society

11

2) Disciples The Jesus Seminar - the number 'twelve' in connection with an inner circle of disciples is a fiction The Greek word "ochloi" refers to the crowds who gathered around Jesus as he preached. The word "mathetes" refers to the followers who stuck around for more teaching. The word "apostolos" refers to the twelve disciples, or apostles, whom Jesus chose specifically to be his close followers

3) Ochloi: The outer most circle surrounding Jesus are known as Ochloi, or "the crowds."
4) Mathetes Meier simply uses the term "disciples These are the people who stayed for Jesus' teaching. As Meier puts it, "Jesus' disciples are marked by obedience to his peremptory call, denial of self, and exposure to hostility and danger. pseudo-disciples - these groups simply were physical followers of Jesus but not necessarily committed followers who were with him all the time 5) Apostolos Commonly referred to as "the Twelve one group that was fairly fixed because of the set number of members. they were a set group of committed disciples who had been individually called by Jesus. 6) Women Disciples Jesus controversially accepted women and sinners Women followers of Jesus were equivalent to the disciples 7) Missionaries Jesus commissions disciples to spread the word, sometimes during his life and sometimes during a resurrection appearance Early Christian practice and may reflect Jesus' original instructions, though some scholars contend that historical Jesus issued no such missionary commission IV. Temple Incident and Execution 1) Travel to Jerusalem Jesus and his followers left Galilee and traveled to Jerusalem in Judea. They may have traveled through Samaria as reported in John, or around the border of Samaria as reported in Luke Jesus might have entered Jerusalem on a donkey as a symbolic act, possibly to contrast with the triumphant entry that a Roman conqueror would make, or to enact a prophecy in Zechariah 2) Temple disturbance

Jesus taught in Jerusalem, and he caused a disturbance at the temple. This act seems to have been symbolic, related to Jesus' prediction that the Temple would be destroyed when the apocalypse came.

3) Betrayal By the criterion of embarrassment it would be unlikely that early Christians would fabricate such a story and as such is assumed to be historically accurate. Bart Ehrman's personal opinion is that Judas revealed that Jesus was secretly teaching the disciples that he would be the king of the coming kingdom Theologian Aaron Saari contends that Judas Iscariot was the literary invention of the Markan community 4) Trial and execution Jesus was crucified by Pontius Pilate, the Prefect of Iudaea province

12

Pilate executed Jesus as a public nuisance, perhaps with the cooperation of the Jewish authorities E. P. Sanders argued that the cleansing of the Temple was an act that seriously offended his Jewish audience and eventually led to his death Bart D. Ehrmanargued that Jesus' actions would have been considered treasonous and thus a capital offense by the Romans The Jesus Seminar argued that Christian scribes seem to have drawn on scripture in order to flesh out the passion narrative, such as inventing Jesus' trial John Dominic Crossanpoints to the use of the word "kingdom" in his central teachings of the "Kingdom of God," which alone would have brought Jesus to the attention of Roman authority Fredriksen& Catchpole argue that many elements of the gospel accounts could not have happened: according to Jewish law, the court could not meet at night; it could not meet on a major holiday Scholars therefore argue that he would have arrested Jesus for promoting sedition and rebellion, and turned him over to the Romans for punishment.

5) Burial and Empty Tomb Craig A. Evans contends that, the literary, historical and archaeological evidence points in one direction: that the body of Jesus was placed in a tomb, according to Jewish custom.

John Dominic Crossan, based on his unique position that the Gospel of Peter contains the oldest primary source about Jesus, argued that the burial accounts become progressively extravagant and thus found it historically unlikely that an enemy would release a corpse Other scholars write that at least one member of the Sanhedrin obtained the body of Jesus from Pilate and arranged for a dishonorable burial Some scholars think that the story of the empty tomb is a late development and that Mark's account of the women telling no one explains why the story had not been widely or previously known Michael Grant wrote: "[I]f we apply the same sort of criteria that we would apply to any other ancient literary sources, then the evidence is firm and plausible enough to necessitate the conclusion that the tomb was indeed found empty GerdTheissen and Annette Merz conclude that "the empty tomb can only be illuminated by the Easter faith the Easter faith cannot be illuminated by the empty tomb."

6) Disciples abandon Jesus The cowardly and disoriented behavior of the disciples suggests that Jesus had not foretold his own death and resurrection 7) Resurrection appearances Since supernatural events cannot be reconstructed using empirical methods, the resurrection of Jesus qualifies as a point of Christian dogma unamenable to the historical method The point of view the accounts reflect historical visions by the followers of Jesus is known as the vision hypothesis. the resurrection appearances are legendary

13

The Jesus Seminar favors the vision hypothesis, that the appearance stories are based on visionary experiences of Peter, Paul, and Mary

14

CHRISTOLOGY: 5 QUESTS FOR THE HISTORICAL JESUS I. IDEA OF THE QUEST Biographical research Impression - scientific research showed that the Jesus of History was different from the Christ of Faith: Scripture - Creeds - Orthodox Theology 1950s - New Quest for The Historical Jesus Third Quest - renewed interest in Jesus in His historical context/pluralism of hermeneutical horizons

1) HERMANN SAMUEL REIMARUS (1694-1768)

G.E. Lessing publishedReimarus works entitled Fragments, but did not give his name. They contained dangerous themes in the German Lutheran context. Fragments contained an attack on the Resurrection Intentions of Jesus and His disciples Christianity might have ended then but for the ingenuity of the disciples. Jesus returned to establish the promised kingdom. Eschatology was the key to understanding J.S. Semiers gave an answer to Fragments His views expressed the Enlightenment Age. Reimarus sought to detach religion from history. If no historical truth can be demonstrated, then nothing in history could be demonstrated beyond doubt; nothing can be demonstrated by means of historical truth. That is, accidental truths of history can never become the proof of necessary truths of reason Frederick D.E. Schleiermacher (1768-1834) - first professor to lecture on the life of Christ The Life of Jesus Johns Gospel Essence of religion Jesus unique awareness replaced the classical doctrine of Christs divine and human nature

2)

DAVID FRIEDRICH STRAUSS AND THE DIVINE MYTH Liberal Quest Old Quest denounced Schleiermacher as a supernaturalist in his Christology but in his criticism and exegesis, a rationalistnature maintained his earlier mythical explanation. The desupernaturalized Jesus depicted by Strauss emerged as one of the great improvers of the ideal of humanity. His method pioneered the use of the role of myth in religion, anticipated The History of Religion School and his view of preliterary formation of the Gospel material anticipated Form Criticism.

3) A.B. Ritschl (1822-1889) His mentor was F.C. Baur. He later rejected his theory of the Christian origins. His method was the empirically observable experience of the Church. The person of Jesus was not a fit study for scientific investigation. Jesus was the vocation bearer of Gods ethical lordship over human beings. He identified four points: 1. Redemption - freedom from guilt and freedom over the world through realizing Gods fatherhood.

15

2. The Kingdom of God: Ethically based on Gods ethical Lordship over the world through the redeemed. 3. Ethical Side Stressed by great Church historian Adolf Harnack (1851-1930); suspicion of adverse affects of metaphysics on theology. 4. Harnack sought to separate the kernel from the husk. 4) Adolf Harnack Only teaching of Christ practical consequences of knowing God, the Son of God. Eight headings: The Kingdom of God and Its Coming God the Father Ultimate/ Infinite Value of the Human Soul; The Higher Consciousness. The Commandment of God in the Sayings of Jesus Q provided refutation of those who exaggerated the apocalyptic/eschatological elements in Jesus teaching

5) Alfred Loisy II. said that the Christ that Harnack sees is only the reflection of a liberal protestant face seen at the bottom of a deep well identified Christ and the idea of Christ in Roman Catholic Christianity. said that the Christ that Harnack sees is only the reflection of a liberal protestant face seen at the bottom of a deep well identified Christ and the idea of Christ in Roman Catholic Christianity.

WEISS, WREDE, SCHWEITZER AND THE END OF THE ORIGINAL QUEST The Ritchlian theological edifice showed several signs of decay 1) Johannes Weiss (1863-1914) The Kingdom was transcendent and belonged to the future. Jesus was not the founder of the Kingdom but wanted God to bring it. The Kingdom was identified with the circle of Jesus Disciples. It did not come gradually by growth and development. Ethics were negative and world denying Jesus was only a rabbi who believed the Kingdom would come after his death. 2) William Wrede Demand that Mark was not an objective observer but a messianic contained secret Jesus did not claim to be the Messiah but the Church thought Jesus wasMessiah after the resurrection faith (not fact) Jesus had secretly revealed His Messiahship to the Disciples and had forbidden them to broadcast it The Gospels were not primary sources for the life of Christ but for belief of Disciples/ communities of faith

3) Albert Schweitzer: declared his thorough-going eschatology to be an extension of Weiss.

Weiss Eschatology Schweitzer Eschatology All searches for the Historical Jesus were dead-ended but Schweitzers Three alternatives:(1) Crisis was provoked by Strauss; (2) purely historical and supernatural Tubingen and his teacher Holzmann chose the Synoptic Gospels over John; (3) the choice between Wrede and Schweitzer - either an Eschatological or non-Eschatological Jesus Schweitzer did not accept Jesus view of Eschatology any more than Weiss or Liberals who treated them as trash to be discarded. Christs mysticism applied to Paul

16

 III.

The real search begin with English deists

ENTIRE EFFORT TO GET BEHIND THE CHURCHS FAITH AND TRADITION Martin Kaehler(1835-1912) In the So-Called Historical Jesus and The Historic Biblical Christ, Kaehler repudiated the attempt to make faith dependent upon the historical research. He also argued that it is impossible to separate the historical Jesus and the Christ of faith. The Christ who changed the course of history is the Christ that is preached, the Christ of faith.

IV.

FROM THE HISTORY OF RELIGION SCHOOL TO THE NEW QUEST (Period of No Quest) The History of Religion School flourished between 1886 to 1920. In seeking to understand the Bible in the context of broader religious and cultural setting of Egyptian, Babylonian and Hellenistic religion emphasized the continuity between the Bible and the ancient Near East. Ernst Troeltsch (1865-1923) The methodology of the School was set out by the former Ritschlian, Ernst Troeltsch laid down principles for approaching history Every tradition and interpretation must be sifted by an unending process of criticism i. The principle of analogy Serves as the criterion by which events are identified and their historicity assessed Present experience and knowledge must be used to interpret the past The critical historian accepts only those events that bear analogy with present experience and understanding of the world The principle of correlation Asserts that every historical event is correlated with others in the same series Since Christianity belongs to the sphere of religious and human history as a whole, no absolute claims may be made on behalf of it or on behalf of the historic Jesus.

ii.

V.

New Orthodoxys Revolt Against Liberalism: Start of the No Quest

In reacting to Liberalism with its emphasis on humanity, religious experience and scientific study, the neo-orthodoxy of Emil Brunner (1889-1966) and Karl Barth (1886-1968) stressed the sovereignty of the transcendent Gods human need of redemption and revelation, and the centrality of Jesus Christ Brunner rejected attempts to interpret Jesus as a religious hero, genius or moral personality Barths emphasis on revelation brought him into sharp conflict with his former teacher, Harnack

Barths Christocentric theology developed in his Church Dogmatics (1933-1981) was based in the incarnation of God in Jesus of Nazareth. Barth stressed the historical reality of this event, but showed little interest in the historical Jesus as such

Bultmann, Form Criticism and Demythologization Form Criticism was pioneered by K.L. Schmidt Dibelius and Rudolf Bultmann, Form Criticism claimed that the framework of the Gospel stories were created by the Evangelists for their own purposes, and was thus historically valueless Dibelius showed how the Gospel tradition is related to the historical Jesus

Rudolf Bultmann

17

Was more skeptical; his theology combined neo-orthodoxy, neo-Kantianism and Heideggerian existentialism with the traditions of liberal theology and the History of Religion School gave an analysis of this form of the tradition behind the Gospels as shaped by the Christian community. concluded that the material threw more light on the SitzimLeben, the life situation of the traditions in the early Church then they do on the life of Jesus The Christ that was preached in the early Church was not the historical Jesus, but the Christ of faith and the cultus (community) Teaching which applied to the Church situations could not be attributed to the historic Jesus

VI.

The New Quest: The New Quest in Europe: Second Quest

a)

James M. Robinsons book, A New Quest of The Historical Jesus was an extension of the work in the Bultmann school

b)

Ernst Kasemann protested his fidelity to Bultmanns methodology and proclaimed the impossibility of writing a biography of Jesus

c) Gunter BornkammsJesus of Nazareth stressed the note of authority in Jesus teaching.

VII. He followed in the footsteps of Martin Dibelius rather than Bultmann. His Jesus was probably the earthly figure of Jesus of Nazareth That the kerygma presupposed the historical Jesus The kerygma is an eschatological event and expresses the fact that Jesus is present in it

THE END OF THE NEW QUEST

VIII.

The Jesus of the New Quest was an existential philosopher whose presence in history was barely discernable behind the kerygma. The New Quest ended scarcely two decades after it started. Its demise coincides with the end of the Bultmannian era and the passage of existential philosophy.

THE THIRD QUEST represents the post Bultmannian developments in Jesus research lies in the belief that Jesus was not the Jesus of liberal Protestantism or of the New Quest, but an historical figure whose life and actions were rooted in first century Judaism with its particular religious, social, economic and political conditions There are three lines of approaches: (1) Radical Tradition, (2) The Conservative Tradition and (3) Attempts to see Jesus in a new perspective (eg. New Age Guru).

Radical Tradition: The Jesus Seminars Radical Redaction Critical tradition Conservative Tradition: Pre-war British scholarship

IX.
X.

THE FOURTH QUEST: Jewish Hermeneutical Horizons - The Only Expected Man in History: The Messiah of the Prophets. New questions are raised by these new approaches THE FIFTH QUEST Other continued searches within the cultural relativism maze, that is, every cultural experience produces a criticism of Jesus in Postmodern categories of Christology

18

The following are direct rejections of the Biblical perspective of Jesus as God Incarnate in historical context: Spirit Christology Jesus and The Holy Spirit Liberation Christology Latin American Hermeneutics Feminist Christology Black Christology

19

CHRISTOLOGY: On Western Definitions From the experiential Christological affirmations of the NT To philosophic enterprise to explain who Jesus is I. The Nicenes Confession The main problem that early Fathers encountered was; how to explain the divinity of Jesus side by side with his human nature Christological affirmation of the council of Nicaea was to respond to the Arian heresy which challenged the divinity of Jesus a) Arius Denied the equality in divinity of Jesus with God the Father Arianism asserted that Jesus was only the highest and most perfect of all of God the Fathers creatures and therefore was made and created by the Father Conceived that Jesus is a mediator between God and the universe but subordinate to the father The position of Arianism is summed up by the phrase or slogan: There was when he was not. b) The Council of Nicaea Affirmed the Sonship and divinity of Jesus, which the NT attributed to him The Nicaean profession of faith asserts the Jesus was; from the being of the Father , being born not made, of one substance (consubstantial) with the Father . II. The Nestorian Crisis and the Council of Ephesus How to explain his humanity in relation with the doctrine of incarnation: How would the Son of God ( with the Father) becomes human in Jesus? In what sense and in what manner? a) Nestorius

Mary not as Mother of God () but Mother of Christ () The person of Christ is not the divine pre-existence Word at the union, but it is only a
semblance of the moral personality resulting from the accidental conjunction of two distinct subjects; the Word and the man Jesus. Affirmed the presence of two persons in Jesus Christ; the persons were united among themselves only through moral connection b) Assumption of Nestorius Would relegate Jesus into two distinct subjects: the Word of God on the one hand and Jesus Christ on the other hand And thus it would deny the reality of incarnation of the Word of God, it would make it seem that the humanization (the becoming into flesh) of the Word of God is only a mere appearance c) Cyril of Alexandria the incarnation is seen as the becoming into flesh of the Word of God, and therefore it is considered as his mode of being, a phase of his existence

20

 The vital point of Cyrils affirmation was the hypostatic union; that there is, there is real, physical, and true unity of all the attributes in the human and divine nature in the unique subject, Jesus Christ (Word made flesh) Thus for Cyril, Jesus Christ was only one subject and not two, the divine and the human are united into one person in a hypostatic union d) The Council of Ephesus Reaffirmed the Christological formula of the council of Nicaea that Jesus was _______ (homoousious) with the Father and that he suffered and died in crucifixion The reaffirmation of the Nicene Creed at Ephesus was, however, to affirm the Christology of Cyrils hypostatic union between the two natures of Jesus Christ and the condemnation of the Nestorian Christological positions III. The Council of Chalcedon To explain the distinction between these two natures; the divine and human in Jesus. This was the problem that will confront the council of Chalcedon A compromised formula On and the same Jesus Christ is perfect God and perfect man composed of rational soul and body consubstantial to the Father as to his divinity and consubstantial to us as to his humanity Eutyches A hard-line interpretation of Cyrils two nature position Affirmed the two natures in Jesus before the union, but refused to affirm that Jesus remains two natures after the union Reluctant to accept that Jesus humanity was consubstantial with us Monophysitism The Council: Was able to make it clear the Christological language that was used to speak of the unity and diversity in Christ Took the Antiochene terminology of nature (physis) to explain what is twofold in Jesus, but it also deepened the concept of Jesus oneness by using the Antiochene term prosopon and hypostasis as equal in meaning to mean person or one individual subject to explain the oneness in Jesus Affirmed, in their profession of faith, the union in Jesus Christ of divinity and humanity and within the distinction of the two natures was also affirmed the hypostatic union of the Word with humanity maintains the otherness of humanity within the one person. Consubstantial with the Father as to the divinity and with us to the humanity.

21

CHRISTOLOGY: Introduction to Patristic Christology I. Patristic Christology 'You are the Messiah, Son of the living God' / 'The Word became flesh and dwelt among us What does it mean to say that 'the Word became flesh'? / What or who is the Word? What is the flesh, and how does it 'dwell'? / What is the nature of the incarnational 'becoming'? 'Who is the Word?' - the divine Logos, co-eternal with the Father The Christological Controversymost often refers to the heated discussions over just such questions -- discussions which filled the air from the early fourth century to the middle of the fifth 'controversy 'Christological era The central issue was the proper interpretation of John's single phrase: 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us' Nicaea in 325 responded to Arius' challenge to the Son's divinity with a definitive confession of his wholly divine status. To call the Son homoousios, consubstantial, with the Father is to assert that he is essentially/naturally divine in the same way, manner and degree as the Father How then does this word 'become flesh'? Does not the confession of the Son as homoousios with the Father, thus eternally and unchangeably God as the Father is God, itself prevent any confession of that Son's 'becoming' or 'changing'? Does God in his divinity become, in the incarnation, other than he was before it? In response to Arius' abjuration of the Son's divinity Apollinarius Bishop of Laodicaea Athanasius of Alexandria - 'Alexandrian' Cappadocian Fathers a) Gregory of Nazianzus The standard patristic apothegm on incarnational soteriology: 'That which is unassumed is un-healed' (Epistle 101) b) Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia took up a radical insistence on the full, complete human nature of the incarnate Christ reflections on how such a full reality came to be united to the divine Logos in the 'becoming' of the incarnational act a true union between two complete natures Nestorius His insistence that the absolute reality of the two natures demanded a union at the level of 'appearance' attracted the fire of the 'Seal of the Fathers' c) Cyril bishop of Alexandria reflected instead upon the incarnation as a unitive reality at the level of hypostasis V. Council of Ephesus in 431 Vindicate Cyril's position resoundingly in the condemnation and deposition of Nestorius on grounds of preaching a 'two-Sons Christology'.

II.

III.

IV.

22

VI.

Council of Chalcedon in 451 produced a 'Definition', a confession of Christ's person that articulates the mystery of the incarnational union largely through apophatic qualifiers, or statements of negation Positions deemed heretical (the assumptive theory of Apollinarius, the divisive vision of Nestorius) seen as the culmination of the 'Christological Controversy' -- the end-point and definitive response to the problems that preceded it

VII.

Christological Heresies a) Ebionism This heresy is the view that Jesus was in nature just a man, denying his divinity altogether. The Ebionites were an offshoot of the specifically Jewish form of Christianity Rejected the virgin birth, regarding Jesus as a man normally born of Joseph and Mary b) Adoptionism This heresy is the view that Jesus was in nature a man who became the Son of God by Adoption; that is, that Jesus was virtuous man that God adopted and constituted him as His Son Theodotus taught that Jesus was a man who was born of a virgin through the operation of the Holy Spirit. Because of the purity of his life, at his baptism the Spirit, or Christ, descended on him and he received power for his special ministry c) Docetism - is the view that Jesus was in nature divine, eliminating his humanity. The name Docetism (Greek, dokein = "to seem") indicated the distinctive thesis of it that Christ's man hood, hence his sufferings, were unreal, phantasmal, appearing only to be human. It claimed that Christ only appeared or seemed to be a man. d) Arianism - Jesus was not fully divine although still related to God as a son to a father The fundamental premise of his system is the affirmation of the absolute uniqueness and transcendence of God, the unoriginate source (agennetosarche) of all reality. Since God is unique, transcendent and indivisible, the being or essence (ousia) of the Godhead cannot be shared or communicated. For God to impart His substance to some other being, He is divisible (diairetos) and subject to change (treptos), which is inconceivable. The Son or the Word of God must be a creature, ktisma or poiema. As a creature the Son or the Word must have had a beginning. The Son can have no communion with, and indeed no direct knowledge of, His Father. The Son must be liable to change and even sin (treptos; alloiotes).

e) Apollinarianism: The Person of Jesus that when the Logos (a perfect divine nature) assumed a human body in Jesus, it took the place of his human mind or soul. Advanced by Apollinaris, Bishop of Laodicea, in opposition to the doctrine of Arianism f) Nestorianism: view of the Nestorians, who were followers of Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople objected to the use of the term "Theotokos", God-bearer, to refer to Mary as implying that the baby in Mary's womb had only one nature, divine nature "Christokos", Christ-bearer, to better emphasize the unity of the two natures of Jesus Cyril of Alexandria objected arguing that it was essential to maintain that God Himself had entered the womb of Mary; therefore she was "Theotokos"

23

g) Monophysitism: view of the Eutychians, who were the followers of Eutyches, an aged and muddle-headed archimandrite and was a follower of Valentinus and Apollinarius Docetic form of monophysitism, teaching that the Lord's humanity was totally absorbed by His divinity. He vigorously repudiated the suggestion of the two natures in the Incarnate as unScriptural He affirmed that the Incarnate had two natures before the incarnation

h) Monothelitism: originated in the early seventh century, and teaches that Jesus had only one will Though correctly agreeing that Jesus had two natures (divine and human) Monothelitism incorrectly placed its emphasis on the two natures having a singular will.

24