Summary

Summary High quality A* Person of Jesus notes for Religious studies a-level OCR

0 purchase

Module
The person of Jesus Christ

Institution
OCR

Hi, I'm a first year student at Oxford who just did my A-levels last year. These are the notes I made on the Person of Jesus Christ in the developments in Christian thought paper. They are extremely detailed and contain not only the content but also a whole range of relevant scholars, responses and...

[Show more]

Preview 2 out of 5 pages

View example

Uploaded on March 6, 2024
Number of pages 5
Written in 2023/2024
Type Summary

roberte-s Member since 1 year 7 documents sold

Jesus Christ’s authority as the Son of God:

Knowledge of God

In Luke, Jesus is found studying in the Temple of Jerusalem and calls it “my Father’s house.” Jesus calls God ‘Abba’
(Greek for ‘father).

In the first three gospels, Jesus is never explicitly suggested to be God himself. It is only in John, the fourth gospel
written around 100 years after Jesus’ death, that Jesus starts “making himself equal to God.” (John 5) He claims, “I
and the Father are one” and “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

In the Bible Jesus appears anxious in Gethsemane, weeps tears at the death of Lazarus and cries during his suffering
on the cross. He demonstrates ignorance when he asks, “Who touched my clothes?” in Mark. These are very human
emotions that we would not associate with God. Furthermore, after the story of Jesus in the Temple it says he went
home and “grew in wisdom.” This suggests he did not have divine knowledge.

If Jesus had gone through life clearly aware of his divine nature, then his experience could not be remotely
comparable to other humans, but if Jesus was not aware of his divinity then his teachings, on death, sin, God’s love,
would lack significance. Theologian Karl Rahner suggests Jesus had a divine self-consciousness deep within, but went
through life with human self-awareness.

Miracles

Mark 6:47-52 Jesus’ disciples were in a fishing boat struggling in a storm. “They saw him walking on the water.” “He
got into the boat with them, and the wind died down.”

John 9: 1-41 Jesus heals a blind man. “Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud paste; he rubbed it on the
man’s face.” “The man who did this cannot be God, for he does not obey the Sabbath laws.”

Jesus’ miracles can be interpreted as having a spiritual or metaphorical rather than literal meaning. Perhaps Jesus is
the source of calm in daily life, and people need to accept him so not to live in fear of the troubles they face. Jesus
healed outcasts and socially excluded groups in society. Perhaps, a symbolic message of inclusion should be taken.

The Gospels contain the only accounts of Jesus’ miracles and the earliest was written about 35 years after his death;
the stories could have been embellished. Also, we have no present day experience of any miracles, so David Hume
rejects these accounts. “Extraordinary events require extraordinary evidence” he says, which we do not have.

Resurrection

The resurrection serves as an absolute confirmation that Jesus was more than just a human, and gives weight to the
promise of eternal life in the Kingdom of God. McGrath wrote “It gives both foundation and substance to the
Christian hope of eternal life.”

In his letter to the Corinthians Paul writes “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins.”
The resurrection underpins all of the Christian faith. Preaching would be in vain as all death would perish.

N.T Wright suggests that Jesus’ supposed resurrection was the only reason why his disciples regrouped so quickly. If
their leader had simply been humiliated on the cross and killed, it is doubtful that they would have travelled around
the world to preach of his glory.

AO2: C.S Lewis says it is “foolish” to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher but not God. “A man who was merely a
man and said the sort of things Jesus said, would not be a great moral teacher, he would be a lunatic.”

The worth of his teachings and the obligation to fulfil them is lost without his divinity and promise of heaven.

Jesus clearly understood himself as a Messianic figure - he refers to his fulfilment of the prophecy many times and
explicitly claims to be the Messiah in John. However, the Old Testament does not suggest the Messiah would be
divine so in that sense Jesus would not consider himself to be divine.

Jesus Christ’s authority as a teacher of wisdom:

, Within the Bible, Jesus is often referred to as ‘Rabbi’ - a term in Jewish society used to refer to educated teachers. It
is the way that Jesus taught that makes him stand out from other teachers or preachers of the time. He taught using
parables and stories, using imagery that his audience would have been familiar with. He also taught by his actions -
the way he interacted with people and the priorities he showed.

Luke 15:11-32 The Lost Son.
There was a man who had two sons. The younger son demanded “Father, give me my share of the property now”

- By requesting his inheritance while the father is still alive, he effectively shuns the father and suggests that
life would be better off without him. This goes against the commandment to “honour your father.” Any son
that demanded such a thing would be publicly disowned.
- Normally the eldest son received all of the inheritance. The younger son demanding it, goes against all the
social conventions and norms.

The son leaves home with the money and goes to live in “a country far away,” where he squanders it.

- At the time a distant, unnamed country meant it was a Gentile, non-Jewish, land. The Jewish people never
associated with Gentiles. In doing so, the son disrespected and denounced his cultural heritage.

He worked on a farm to “take care of the pigs. He wished he could fill himself with the bean pods the pigs ate.”

- In Judaism pigs are considered ceremonially unclean and any contact would be spiritually desecrating. To
care for pigs, and to consider eating their food, was the lowest one could go socially and morally. Jesus is
setting the son up to be a truly villainous person.

The son returns to his father who “threw his arms around his son and kissed him.” The son says “Father, I have
sinned against God and against you.” The father tells his servants ‘Bring the best robe and put it on him. Go and
get the prize calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast! For this son of mine was dead, but now he is alive; he
was lost, but now he has been found.”

- The father’s behaviour would have been shocking and unexpected to the audience. The son has disrespected
and embarrassed the father, under Jewish law his actions would’ve constituted ostracization, possibly even
death, and yet he is put in the best robe - a high honour. The fatted calf was saved for a great celebration.
- The Father represents God in this story who will always love and take pity on you, regardless of what you
have done. Forgiveness is always possible.

“The older brother was so angry that he would not go into the house.” “All these years I have never disobeyed
your orders. What have you given me?”

This story comes straight after a passage in which the Pharisees complain about Jesus socialising with the ‘unclean’
Here Jesus stresses that forgiveness is open to all people, even those we deem unworthy. “Jesus told the parable
primarily for the Pharisees’ benefit and as a rebuke to them.” - John MacArthur

- The older son has lived a supposed good life, following all the rules, but internally is filled with resentment
and fear; his heart is closed and not open to forgiving others. The brother, the true villain of the story,
represents the Pharisees who seem outwardly pious and fulfil all the Jewish laws, but their hearts and
motivations are selfish and stuck in their ways.
- Jesus’ message is not just about forgiveness, but about inner purity and moral motivation.

Matthew 5:17-48. Sermon on the mount.
“People were told in the past ‘Do not commit murder’. Now I tell you if you are angry with your brother, if you call
your brother a worthless fool you will be in danger of going to hell.”

If at the altar “go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God.”

“Anyone who even looks at a woman and wants to posses her is guilty of committing adultery in his heart.”

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller roberte-s. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for £7.06. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

68175 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 15 years now

Start selling

Summary

Summary High quality A* Person of Jesus notes for Religious studies a-level OCR

Document information

Subjects

Written for

Seller

Reviews received

Content preview