Person of Jesus

Trinity belief

God exists as three distinct but united persons

Jesus role

• god made human to save world

• Fully divine and fully human

Father Role

creator, parental love for humanity

Holy Spirit

• guides and inspires believers

• present in world today

Councicl of Chalceodn (451 AD)

• affirmed Jesus is “truly man and truly God”

• called hypostatic union

• two natures not mixed or blended

Homoousios

• Jesus is same substance as God the Father

• Jesus is not a lesser being or a demi-god

• fully equal in divinity to the father

Apollinaris’ concern

• if Jesus had a fully human mind, it would be ‘changeable and enslaved to filthy thoughts”

• response in Hebrew 4:15 - Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are, yet we do not sin”

• sinlessness evidence of divine nature even within full humanity

Why hypostatic union is needed

• Jesus had to be fully divine to save humanity from sin

• had to be truly human otherwise suffering on cross wasn’t real

• must be both

Question of self-knowledge

• if Jesus fully divine, have God’s full awareness of time and reality?

• if so, was he really fully human, since humans have unknown future

• Did he know he was the saviour?

• What does his expressions of emotion mean?

Karl Rahner’s Onion Solution

• genuine human consciousness must have unknown future, but if Jesus was fully divine, he’d have God’s awareness of time

• Rahner → God has layers

• Jesus human self-consciousness was near surface, while divine self-conciousness lay deep within

• human emotions were real, without denying divine nature

Gerald Collins

• Jesus knew he was uniquely connected to God and mission was to save humanity

• wasnt discovered, inherent part of consiousness

• awareness of sonship was an inner self-presence of divine reality

High Christology

• Jesus is fully-divine

• Pre-existing before earthly life

• Jesus is fully aware of his divinity

Low Christology

• emphasises Jesus as primarily humanity

• teacher & rabbi and Messiah whose divinity was recognised and developed by followers over time

• doesn’t deny divinity, but Jesus may not have been fully aware

• divinity is a status attained from baptism or resurrection rather than pre-existent state

Ehrman’s argument

• Jesus divinity took a long time to develop

• Synoptic Gospels (written earlier) present Jesus as a human w/ special relationship w/ God

Evidence for Low Christology

Mark 10:18 - “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

John 14:28 - “The Father is greater than I”

Hick’s argument

• Son of God is a common title in Judaism, not unique divine being

High Christology evidence

• John 10:30 - “I and the Father are one”

Kenotic Christology

• Jesus was fully divine but voluntarily ‘emptied’ himself of his divine powers/knowledge to live a truly human life

• Mark 13:31 - “About the day or hour no knows”, not even the Son

Problems of Kenotic Christology

seen as undermining unchanging divinity

P.T Forsyth supporting Kenotic Christology

"The Incarnation was not a laying aside of Godhead, but a limiting of it."

Why is the feeding of 5000 important

• only miracle appearing in all four Gospels

• multiple independent attestation

Hume’s reponse

• miracle is a "violation of laws of nature”

• We have no direct experience of miracles today & human testimony is prone to exaggeration and misunderstanding

• so, we can’t accept NT miracle accounts

Criticism of Hume

• circular reasoning as he uses assumption that miracles can’t happen to dismiss evidence

• natural laws describe how things normally but don’t’ rule out divine intervention

• multiple witnesses risking persecution deserves weight

Schillebeeckx’s response

• miracles have spiritually meaning rather than literal accuracy

• healing miracles signify God’s love transforming brokenness of the world

N.T Wright

• Jesus’ healing miracles are socially inclusive, deliberately heals people excluded from society and reunited them w/ god and community

• Jesus is establishing God’s Kingdom on Earth

Paul’s view on Resurrection

• without resurrection, preaching is in vain, sins not forgiven, no salvation, and all perish at death

• 1 Corinthians 15 - “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith”

E.P Sanders

• without Resurrection, Jesus’ disciples would likely not endured

McGrath on Resurrection

• focuses on suffering, new life and unconditional love

• McGrath: “establishes Christian hope, enables the cross to be interpreted as God’s victory over death and gives substance to hope for eternal life

O’Collins on Resurrection

• vindicates Jesus’ authority and teaching after the appparent defeat of the crucifixion

• Acts 2:36 - “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah”

Weak can mediate God’s revelation

• Romans 5:8 “While we were sinners, Christ died for us”

Jesus as a Rabbi

Merz: Jesus ‘corresponded to contemporary notions of a rabbi’

• discussed scripture with other scribes, gathered disciples, taught in synagogues