...confessional traditions.” But, doubt that Christ in tradition was different from the actual Christ created a shift from metaphysical to historical Christology. This sparked the search for the historical Jesus in which two approaches, “Christology from Above” and “Christology from Below arose. Christology from above, associated closely with Rudolf Bultmann, Karl Barth, and Emil Brunner, was born from the idea that rather than studying the historical Jesus as a man, the best study would be of the resurrected Christ, His works and the relationship established by faith from His disciples. The ideas of this approach include: 1. The kerygma regarding Christ is a better basis for understanding than the historical account of His life. 2. Paul’s writings and the Book of John are preferred for study over the Synoptic Gospel’s historical accounts. 3. Faith in Christ is not contingent on rational proof. Brunnner does not concede a need to study the historical account of Christ’s life with respect to His different facets, one as God becoming incarnate in the flesh and the other revealed by Christ after the flesh. Brunner asserts the study of Christ in the flesh gives us greater insight to His Person in a historical sense than the alternative of Christ after the flesh which necessitates faith to fully comprehend. Therefore, the “Christology from above” approach takes church’s proclamation of Christ with the testimonies of “Christ after the flesh” with the study of Scriptural accounts...
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...“Matthew’s Narrative Christology: Three Stories.” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 64 no 4 (October 2010): 356-67. THEO 510 LUO (Fall 2013) Survey of Theology Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary Jermaine L. Andrews (ID# 26089173) August 31, 2013 Table of Contents Introduction 1 Brief Summary 1 Critical Interaction 2 Conclusion 3 End Notes 4 Bibliography 5 Introduction M. Eugene Boring is Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Brite Divinity School. In this article, his target audience is the Christian community and his goal is to discuss Matthew’s Christology as theocentric, presenting God’s manifested presence in the life of Jesus. Boring goes on to show how Matthew’s Christology is expressed in a narrative of three stories. He says that this can be appreciated and appropriated better in the context of narratives in which contemporary interpreters are embedded.1 He does not subscribe to a particular story, but believes that the ecclesiology, eschatology, and ethics of Jesus are intertwined. They cannot be separated or summarized. For that reason, we are introduced to and come to know Jesus as Emmanuel, God-with-us. Brief Summary Boring begins this article by talking about Jesus and how he was sent by God as the promised Messiah. He mentions how Matthew uses three stories that bridges the gap between interpreters’ understanding of Matthew’s Christology, Matthew’s understanding...
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...Church : the theology of Acts." Interpretation 13, no. 2: 157-169. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed September 14, 2013). THEO 510 LUO (fall 2013) Survey of Christian Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary David M. Lowe (ID# L01477914) September 19, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction..................................................................................................................2 II. Brief Summary.............................................................................................................2 III. Critical Interaction with Author’s Work..................................................................4 IV. Conclusion....................................................................................................................5 Bibliography........................................................................................................................6 Introduction In the Book of Acts author Luke purposes to provide an account of the origin and development of the church under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Book of Acts lays an original and graphic historical picture of the early church from its beginnings with the accension of Jesus to it’s end with Paul’s detention in Rome. Bo Reike in his article, “The Risen Lord and His Chruch, The Theology of Acts”...
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...Christology Charlene Smalls Theology 201 June 16, 2014 Incarnation means "to become flesh." in incarnation the second person of the Trinity, the Word, became flesh and dwelt among us. John 1:1, "in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God." John 1:14, tells us "And the word became flesh and dwelt among us . When the Word became flesh, he dwelt in the womb of Mary and was born as Jesus. Jesus is the incarnation of God. He is God in flesh. Col. 2:9 tells "for in him dwells all the fullness of deity in bodily form." Another term for the incarnation of God in reference to Jesus is the hypostatic union. The term "incarnation" does not appear in the New Testament, but the concept is definitely taught: John 1:1, 14; Col. 2:9; Phil. 2:5-8; 1 Tim. 3:16; 1 John 4:2; John 20:28; Heb. 1:8 (ref) There are two views stology teaches that God the son; the second person of the Trinity laid aside the use of certain divine attributes or emptied Himself in the incarnation in order to become fully human. This view is also called the incarnation when the second person of the Godhead became flesh. this doctrine reaches reached every area of Christian theology and effects every area as well. The doctrine of the incarnation reveals the identity of Christ this theology touches the pre-existence of Christ, Christ’s humanity, deity, sinlessness, and His three-fold office and more. The traditional view of Christology maintains that Jesus exercised both...
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...New Life Theological Seminary The Doctrine of the Trinity Submitted to Professor Gifford In Partial Fullfillment of TH531: Systematic Theology I By Emily Ephraim The doctrine of the Trinity means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons--the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Stated differently, God is one in essence and three in person. These definitions express three crucial truths: (1) The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons, (2) each Person is fully God, (3) there is only one God. Wow what a concept to digest, one God within three distinct persons. When I think of the power that comes along with that I am in awe. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit all humbling to the omnipresent God. How can God be all three and yet be one? God is present everywhere and cares for everyone. God as The Father Jeremiah 23:23-24 King James Version (KJV) 23 Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? 24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord. God the Son Matthew 28:20 King James Version (KJV) 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. God the Holy Spirit Psalm 139:7 King James Version...
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...Christology Quest For Historical Jesus There have been three modern quests for the historical Jesus influenced by the 27 books of the New Testament, especially the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, since the first century C.E. The first quest began with the Enlightenment movement, which began as a result of increased value placed on individual thought and discovery, questioning of the truthfulness of the Bible and other church doctrines, and distinguishing the actual historical Jesus from the interpretations of Jesus that mixed small portions of history with greater amounts of theology. Hermann S. Reimarus was one of the first scholars to identify discrepancies. After his death philosopher Gotthold Lessing published Reimarus’ claim that Jesus was a Jewish reformer that encouraged Israel to replace Rome with the kingdom of God. After Jesus’ death the disciples presented him as a divine Savior, resurrected from death. Reimarus believed the disciples committed fraud; however David Strauss believed their writings to be mythological communication. These myths alone were not valuable, but were valuable in communicating religious truths. The second quest for the historical Jesus was initiated by Ernst Kasemann in 1953, as a reaction to Rudolf Bultmann’s rejection of the original quest. Bultmann dominated debates in the middle decades of the twentieth century. He was a Lutheran and helped move theology into the age of dialectical theology, where God was thought...
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...Christology In the following essay I will address the topic of Christology. Merriam-Webster defines Christology as, “theological interpretation of the person and work of Christ”. (Christology. (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2015, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Christology) Walter Elwell further states that “in one the one person of Christ there are two entire natures, the human and the divine, including two wills’. (Ewell, 1984, 2001, p. 872) The Bible makes it very clear that Jesus was both all God and all man. John 1:14 says, “The Word (Jesus) became flesh and made his dwelling with us.” (NIV) and Galatians 4:4-4 says “But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” (NIV) We see by these scriptures that Jesus was in fact a man, a human being. The Bible also makes it clear that Jesus was in fact God on earth. Philippians 2:6-7 says,” Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:” (KJV). In John 14:9 Jesus said, “The one who has seen Me has seen the Father” (KJV) and John 10:30 Jesus said, “I and my Father are one”. (KJV). God Himself claims Jesus as His son in Matthew 3:17 “And lo a voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (KJV) making Jesus equal with God. That’s...
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...This essay will define the theological methodology embodying the Wesleyan Quadrilateral and some key components of how comprehensible his argument that evangelical theology is the ‘drama of gospelizing’. Included are some key areas where the Wesleyan Quadrilateral mirrors to a great extent many similarities of Birds theology and some differences. WESLEYAN QUADRILATERAL The term ‘Wesleyan Quadrilateral’ devised by Albert Outler in the 1960’s, with its fourfold reference, is a good deal more refined and ‘preserves the primacy of Scripture, profits from the wisdom of tradition, accepts the disciplines of critical reason and its stress on the Christian experience of grace, and gives it a pragmatic experience.’ These four sources lead a believer to be a worshiper and to serve God with maturity. (After all, worship is the ultimate goal of God’s Mission.) Primarily, Scripture serves as the primary source for theological reflection and is the foundation and centrepiece for the other three sources. Secondly, Tradition is considered as an experience of the witness of development and growth of faith through the nations and various cultures but notwithstanding the writings of the early church fathers. Wesley also maintained that right reason and interpretation would never result in inconsistency. Oden supports this statement, adding, until one has a right mind set and understanding is attained divine matters cannot be apprehended. Yong and Wesley agree in part on the basic Spirit grounding...
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...Using the definition of systematic theology given by B A Dermarest in Elwell's Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, explain how it relates to three other disciplines of theology: biblical theology, historical theology, and philosophical theology. Which of the four approaches is the most important in your current or future ministry context? “Systematic theology thus begins with the totality of biblical revelation and the extra biblical truth, provisionally respects the development of doctrine in the church’s history, draws out the teachings of Scripture via sound grammatical, historical, and cultural exegesis, orders the result into a coherent whole where the interrelatedness of its parts is evidenced, and relates the results to the life and witness of the Christian community.” Systematic theology is the study of Scripture in its entirety. This covers diverse subjects such as both the Old and New Testament, church history, missions, and counseling. “Biblical theology is simply theology that is biblical, that is, based on and faithful to the teachings of the Bible.” Millard J. Erickson also refers to Biblical theology as “the right kind of theology”. Systematic theology that is taken directly from Scripture will correlate similarly with Biblical theology. Historical theology is the study of the church and the theologians from within church history. Systematic theology can relate with historical theology by way of marrying specific Biblical doctrine and how Christian...
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...The study of theology, as defined by Merriam Webster, is the study of religious faith, practice, and experience; specifically, the study of God and of God’s relation to the world. The difficulty of this field of study in today’s era is that we often become immune to new thoughts or beliefs, and instead fully accept the ideas that have been introduced before us. That is exactly what Victor Paul Furnish is trying to do in his work, “The Theology of the First Letter to the Corinthians,” which challenges a number of common views regarding New Testament literature. The piece of this book that I will analyze deals with 1 Corinthians specifically. In this section, Furnish challenges the common belief that Paul’s theology is most evident in Galatians and Romans, while his apostolic self-understanding and views on ethical and moral issues are found primarily in 1 and 2 Corinthians. He believes this is inaccurate, and that 1 Corinthians is also, a profoundly theological letter. The approach used in arguing this claim is a very historical one. There are many references to historical texts in addition to the biblical discussion found throughout. As a guide, the four traditional doctrinal topics will be summarized and analyzed in order to better understand the relationship between Paul and the Corinthians, specifically regarding their respective views. These topics will include Christology, soteriology, eschatology, and ecclesiology. The first topic discussed is Christology. This is the...
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...xxxxxxxxxx University Prophet, Priest & King: Jesus and His fulfillment of each office A research paper submitted to Professor xxxxx xxxxxxx in partial fulfillment of the requirements for BIBL 000 xxxxxxxx by xxxxxxx xxxxxxx 123456789 I. Introduction II. Prophet A. General role of prophet B. Jesus as prophet III. Priest A. General role of priest B. Jesus as priest IV. King A. General role of king B. Jesus as king V. Conclusion Prophet, Priest & King: Jesus and...
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...Running head: Christology Christology Christology The claim that Jesus was a man and as such could not also is God is one that has been highly debated. The fact that Jesus was a man can be confirmed by another religion, Islam claims that he was a great prophet. For Christians it is maintained that Jesus was fully God and fully man. The hypostatic union of Jesus is the cornerstone of the faith, his humanity sets the example for us to live by and his deity makes the only sacrifice sufficient for our sins. The Bible gives plenty of examples of how Jesus was fully human. The book of Luke chapter 2 gives two examples of Jesus’ humanity first by talking about his birth. The second example is when the chapter talks about how he became strong in the spirit as he grew when he was at the temple. The Bible gives another example of Jesus’ humanity “Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus (John 11:35). The Bible gives examples of his humanity in John 4:6 at the well he was tired from his journey and needed a drink from the well. Mathew 4:2 After 40 days of fasting he was hungry. All of the examples in scripture point to a very human nature of Jesus. If he were not fully human he would not have been tired and thirsty after a journey nor would he be hungry after not eating and he definitely would not have cried at the death of a friend. Those are all very human needs and emotions but through that he also displays the deity side of him. Jesus was also fully God and there are plenty examples...
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...Theology 201-D17 Christology As you are going home from work, two well-dressed gentlemen accost you, handing you some literature explaining what they believe. You glance over it and are drawn to this sentence: "Jesus was a man and as such could not also be God." Seeing the puzzled look on your face, one of the men asks you what you think of this claim. For two gentlemen to come and show me such a paper with their thoughts on it is in a way sad. The men do not have the proper knowledge of the Lord that they need. I believe that it is my goal to express my relationship and knowledge in which they can absorb into their knowledge. The biblical basis for Jesus’ humanity is indicated in his suffering on the cross. Jesus went through the pain and horrible suffering to die for our sins. He is a man because he walked among other men and grew everyday as a man. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. (Romans 5:8). The biblical basis for Jesus’ deity, meaning a God, refers to his direct connection to the Father who sent him so save humanity. He is what man should be and is the ideal example of how man should live. He is our Lord and Savior because of what he was sent to do and because he opened our eyes to sin and how we should live life through the Father. Jesus can both God and Man at the same time because he has the characteristics of both. Jesus is both a God and a Man, but is presented as one individual known as the Hypostatic...
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...Dr. Na Religion 207 Dec 11, 2015 Stilling of the Storm The canonical gospels are a result of the spreading of the news of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Therefore, they must be studied when interested in gathering an account of Jesus’ life and death. The synoptic gospels include the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It is assumed that the author of the Gospel According to Mark wrote his gospel first and therefore becomes a blueprint for the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Therefore the synoptic gospels have similar events, structure, and timeframes. One major event in all three synoptic gospels is the story of the stilling of the storm. Assuming markan priority, this paper will discuss the Gospel According to Mark’s command that Jesus uses to rebuke the wind and sea: “Peace! Be still!” The stilling of the storm is a triple tradition event, meaning it is found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This event is contained in the passages of Mark 4:35-41, Matt 8:23-27, and Luke 8:22-25. Some similarities throughout this particular event are very evident and can be shown through the main course of events in the pericope. The first similarity is all gospels have Jesus asleep in the boat during a storm. Another similarity is that Jesus rebukes the natural elements and comments on the disciples’ lack of faith. Another important similarity is that the disciples question the authority of Jesus when the wind and water obey him. These three similarities lay out the foundation...
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...Short Essay on Christology John 3: 16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in his shall not perish but have ever lasting life.” We see the humanity of Jesus so perfectly in this scripture. Jesus was given to the world to live a sinless, perfect life so that the world would see in flesh the Devine Authority of God. In Elwells article of Christology he points out that the virgin birth and resurrection are obvious signs of his humanity because just as humans, he was born and he died. There are many verses that explain the deity of God but the most basic and important in my opinion is Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The question of God’s deity rests in the very first verse of the Bible. He created the world for us to be sinless and blameless and we messed it up. So He gave us His only son to die on the cross for OUR sins so that we could have eternal life in heaven. We are so undeserving of his love and forgiveness but He gives it to us anyway. In the scenario above a man claims “Jesus was a man and as such could not also be God.” However, 1 Corinthians 3:23 simply states, “and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.” First off, I would like to say that God is the almighty, powerful, sovereign, Eternal Father. He can be both God and Man because he is all-powerful. The Hypostatic Union explains the union of the divine nature and the human nature in the incarnation of the Son...
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