Theology 109 Williams Exam 2

What is salvation history?

• the story of God’s act of saving people

• history is not a series of unconnected events

Genesis and the act of creation

creation of the world— God is creator

The “Fall”

• in the story of Salvation History, is the conflict of the story

• God and humanity have a broken relationship in how we treat on another

The serpent (2 different views)

1. a trickster who robs humans of the chance to have eternal life

2. Satan, the adversary of God and humanity

God’s promise to Abraham (Genesis 15-18)

• his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand in the shore

• he would be the father of a great nation that would be a blessing on the earth

• God changes his name from Abram to Abraham

Creation of the Jewish people— God’s chosen people

• God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

• this is the God worshipped by the Jewish people

Exodus

• Israelites/Jews/Hebrews put into slavery by Egypt Pharaoh

• God frees them from slavery by sending plagues against Egypt

• Identity Event #1 — the exodus is incredibly formative event for the Jewish identity and many laws of Old Testament are predicated on it

Passover and the death of the first born

• God warns everyone to cover doorposts with blood of lamb or first born dies

• celebrated as Passover (meaning the angel of death will pass over you) during the spring around Easter time

King David

• God promises him an everlasting throne

• Did a lot of good things but commits adultery with Bathsheba and kills her husband

King Soloman

• Ruled in period of prosperity and showed off wealth, known for wisdom

• later in life turns away from God and worships the God of wives

• kingdom is split in half and never reaches the same level of power

Exile out of Jerusalem and into Babylon

• Babylon destroys Jerusalem and ends Jewish monarchy

  • takes all people with skills and political importance

• Identity Event #2— important for history of Judaism/Christianity because Jews wrote everything down and because it was a very traumatic period

Gospel

• genre of “gospel” includes biography and testimony, but is not concerned with being neutral

• THE Gospel is the good news that God has come to establish his kingdom amongst the people of earth to free them from bondage

• All concerned with Jesus’s identity and explaining who he is and show his actions to prove that he is who he is said to be

  • not secondary point; the identity of Jesus is the core aspect of Christianity

The Messianic Secret (Mark 1-8)

• humans do not know who Jesus truly is

• they guess throughout story and Jesus tells everyone to keep quiet and not tell anyone

• Jesus is the messiah, but only wants to reveal it at the right time

Demonic knowledge

evil spiritual creatures, demons, are depicted as knowing more about what Jesus is than anyone else

The supernatural meaning of Jesus’s presence

• he is not just an ethical figure

• he is recognized by evil spiritual powers because of preexistence

Preexistence

• the existence of something at an earlier time

• Jesus has this quality in the Gospel of Mark because he believed Jesus was divine and was not just a human

The messianic secret revealed on the cross

• messianic secret is revealed on the cross

• the cross should have proven he was not the messiah, but instead became integral to who Jesus is

• the cross changes meaning from the symbol of terror to a symbol of hope and love

The Son of Man

• this title is ambiguous and intentionally used for this effect based on context, the Old Testament uses it to describe a divine figure and a human being

• Jesus plays on this ambiguity in the gospels

Redemption and slavery

redemption from slavery is an essential analogy for what Jesus does on behalf of humanity