Johns Gospel Christology

Lesson 3 Learning Objective: To understand what is meant by Christology. To examine the types of Christology found in Johns Gospel.

What do you remember?

.. About Christology?

Case Study: Christology

Christology literally means ideas about Christ. There are many Christological ideas about Jesus; for example, that Jesus is a second Moses, or is a prophet, or an angelic being or God himself. Many modern theologians start by asserting Jesus full divinity and then try to explain how God could take on human nature e.g. you could speak of God emptying himself of his divinity in order to become man; or of Jesus divine spirit in a human body. There is a danger that this type of approach will not do justice to Jesus real humanity.

Case Study: Christology continued

Others start with Jesus the man and try to explain how he could also be divine e.g. you could speak of Jesus being adopted at his baptism or death when he was made divine; or of God being in Christ; or of Jesus being so God-conscious, so godly, that he made God present for others. Such attempts are in danger of watering down the divinity of Christ until he can no longer be called God.

Christology in Johns Gospel?

What type of Christology do you think is in Johns Gospel? Can you think of any evidence to support your ideas?

Christology in JnG
JnE himself declares the purpose of his writing: These are written that you may believe that the Christ, the Son of God is Jesus, and that believing you may have life in his name (20.31) [this is often translated the other way round: Jesus is Christ, the Son of God but my translation is more accurate to the Greek]. However, what exactly is the idea that JnE has about Jesus? There has been a major debate about whether Jesus is seen as God himself or, instead, an agent of God, like a prophet.

A time to compare and analyse . . .

Read the sample texts below and annotate, coming to a conclusion of whether you think they lend weight to the idea that Jesus is a divine being (i.e. God) or, instead, a human agent of God.
John 10: 30, 33, 38. 30 I and the Father are one.33 The Jews answered him, It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God. 34 Jesus answered them 38 the Father is in me and I am in the Father.

John 5. 19 Jesus said to them, Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise. Jn 8:40 you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God

Scholarly Comments . . . High Christology

Because of some of the texts (previous slide), a few scholars (e.g. Kasemann) have questioned the reality of the humanity of the Johannine Jesus, arguing that he was only man in appearance, not in realitythis is what we would term a docetic Christ. Docetic (from the Greek word to seem) means that Jesus only seemed human but was not really human. Kasemann thinks that JnG has a naive docetism and that Jesus is glorified throughout; Jesus is a pre-existent being or Logos. The union between Jesus and God is a metaphysical, ontological and substantial one. Jesus is different in nature from an ordinary human being. This is expressed in titles like Logos and Son Of God. The phrase Son of God has been used of angels and other heavenly beings in the OT (Gen 6:2; Job 1:6; Dan 3:25) and also post-biblical Palestinian Judaism (1 Enoch 69:45; 71:1; Jubilees 1:2425). This supports understanding Jesus in JnG as a being who is divine.

Scholarly Comments . . . Low Christology

Margaret Davies argues that human beings, including Jesus, are vulnerable and mortal (Rhetoric and Reference in the Fourth Gospel JSOT 1992). For her Jesus should be seen as entirely human as we are and not even titles such as Son of God say anything different. Davies writes: Son of God refers to Jesus status as a Jew and as the human Jewish Messiah, not to his divinity. Jesus, the Son of God, is the human being whose life expresses that purpose because he is obedient to God. Son of God can refer to the people of Israel as a whole (Exodus 4:2223; Hosea 11:1), and it can be a reference to the king in particular (Psalm 2:7, II Samuel 7:14). Even Jn 10:34-8, which speaks about Jesus and God as being one and that God is in Jesus, is trying to say simply that Jesus is a human being feeling close to God; in the same way Jesus hopes his disciples will be one with him in 17:22. To conclude, Margaret Davies wants to argue that Jesus is really a human being who has the pre-existent Logos within himalthough some of the language seems very mythological and implies Jesus = God, this needs to be demythologised; that is, the metaphysical language is best seen as metaphor and not literally meant.

Scholarly Comments . . . Paradoxical Christology

Barrett is an example of a scholar who tries to hold that in JnG Jesus human side and his God side are maintained in a dialectical paradox, i.e. a mystery that holds each side in tension. He says that JnE portrays Jesus in a twofold light: Jesus is equal to God, indeed God in the flesh, and yet he is fully human. JnG provides some of the most important biblical materials for the later doctrine of the dual nature of Jesus.

Plenary
What is meant by Christology? What types of Christology can be found in Johns Gospel? Why do you think JnE has different types of Christology in JnG?