(Ch. 31) In 750 words summarize insights into the deity of Christ based on John, Hebrews, and Paul. Critique the heresies of Arianism and Ebionism and explain how they fall short of true doctrine.
In the scripture, Jesus also claims an unusual relationship with the heavenly Father, particularly in the sayings stated in the Gospel John. For example, Jesus claims to be one with the Heavenly Father (John 10: 30), and that to seeing and knowing Jesus is like seeing and knowing the Heavenly Father (John 14: 7– 9). The Apostle John’s claim in the Gospel John 1:2 that Jesus’ preexisted before the world (p. 626). Another interesting statement is found in the Gospel John 8: 58, when Jesus identifies Himself as the “I am.” Erickson notes that Jesus could have said, “I was,” but He says, “I am.” It is also possible that Jesus was giving a direct connection to the “I AM formula” by which God identified himself in Exodus 3: 14– 15. Morris notes in Jesus case (John 8:58), as in Exodus 3: 14– 15, the “I am” is a way of denoting existence. 1138
Although some of Jesus’s declarations may seem rather ambiguous to us, there is no uncertainty as to how the scribes interpreted them. The Jews’ instantaneous reaction to Jesus’s statement that He existed before Abraham was to pick up stones to throw at Jesus (John 8: 59) (pp. 626-627). Not only did Jesus not dispute the charge that he claimed to be God, but he also recognized his disciples’ ascribing of deity to Him. The strongest case of this is
At some point, every great theologian faces the challenge to read a journal article on a topic so he or she can write a critique in order to bring clarity or confirmation. We see this in the academic world a lot. And besides doing the work as a requirement, this is an opportunity to prepare one to write better, to expose to different disciplines of theology, to develop critical thinking, to expose to principles of rules, and to eventually write better Research Papers. All this in consideration, this critique paper is based on the systematic theology interpretation of the deity of Jesus Christ.
We are often searching for answers to find out who Jesus was or what His teachings really meant. John includes eight different situations in which Jesus gives what are known as the “I Am” statements. Instead of continuing to simply wonder about who Jesus is, we can take an in depth look into the “I Am” statements that Jesus made while He was here on earth. Conclusions can be drawn by looking at the statements Jesus makes and looking into what they mean. He uses an emphatic “I Am” to bring out important teachings about his person. Most of these statements are known by Christians.
[v] Edershiem, Alfred. Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database: Biblesoft, Inc.
Over the centuries, Christianity has organised its beliefs into a systematic theology that draws from its sacred writing and tradition. While the main beliefs of Christianity are shared by all Christian variants, there are degrees of different in the interpretation of these beliefs and how they are lived out in everyday life. This can be seen in the important of sacred text, principle belief of the concept of salvation in John 3:16, principle belief of divine and humanity in ‘John 1:14’, principle belief of resurrection in ‘Mark 16:1-8’, principle belief of revelation in ‘1 corinthians14:6’, and beliefs through the Trinity in ‘2 Corinthians 13:14’. This essay will explain the important of the sacred text and the principal beliefs of Christianity.
John also reveals Christ’s identity, “In the beginning the Word (logos) already existed. He was with God, and he was God…He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make. Life itself was in him and this life gives light to everyone.” (John 1:1, 3-4)
Outline the development of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity from the New Testament Church to the Nicene Creed.
This paper will address God, Humanity, Jesus, Restoration, Analysis and Reflection. The debate, research, questions, and conclusions of the existence of God has been happening for thousands of years. Great minds have pondered Him and His Word, the Bible. There have been different opinions and worldviews about God, His Son Jesus Christ and Heaven. Not everyone agrees on any particular view. Humanity has never been the same since the Fall in the Garden of Eden. Some love, some hate. Others are kind, others kill. Jesus was sent to restore mankind’s relationship with God. To be the perfect sacrificial lamb in order for humankind to be saved and spend eternity in Heaven with God. The only way to achieve peace in the
Leithart begins this book by talking about the controversy surrounding the church in the 4th century. Athanasius, a young man brought up in a pagan household, was taught to fear the Lord from a man named Alexander from a young age. Athanasius’ main opponent during his lifetime was to discount Arianism, a heresy that tried to propose the “subordination of the Son to the Father,” a view that outright “denied the eternal generation of the Son,” making Jesus less than God. The Arians believed that “the Father exists prior to the Son, since the Son is not eternal, that is, not timelessly self-subsistent” to the Father. This is to say that the Father does not eternally generate the Son, but instead came into being at a certain point in history, a blatant heresy that was corrected by Athanasius and the Church council in the 4th century.
Introduction In his work, On the Incarnation of the Word, Athanasius of Alexandria provides a systematic approach to explaining why the Incarnation was needed and how to interpret the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Athanasius seeks to clear up any misconceptions as to why the Son of God needed to humble himself to become man, only to die a humiliating death, that would later be scorned. Athanasius ends with evidence as to the truth of which all Christians celebrate and seek to share with all who will listen. I will explain Athanasius logical approach to the Incarnation by explaining the need for God to respond to man’s sin, the manner in which God brought redemption, and the grace that can now be celebrated.
Jesus was declared to be the Mighty God and Everlasting Father long before he was ever conceived in the womb of Mary. The Everlasting Father became the child and son born in the manger. Therefore Jesus truly is Immanuel, God with us. Jesus is Almighty God become a man.
The purpose of the paper is to differentiate between Christ of faith and Jesus of history. New Testament biblical scholars from the 19th Century have been preoccupied by the notion of Christ of faith versus Jesus of History. Jesus of history can be described as the quest for historical Jesus, while the Christ of Faith is the Christ of Christian belief either through the Church or historically. Some traditions even went ahead to argue that the Jesus of History could never be found and therefore the Christ of faith is the only way forward for Christians. On the other hand, those who have been promoting the Jesus of History have often assumed that the historical Jesus is much superior as compared to the Christ of Faith. Despite the key differences between Christ of faith and the historical Jesus, both these aspect have an implication for Western Christianity.
In the fourth century, the Arian controversy caused considerable theological discussion and upheaval over the definition of faith. In an effort to bring unity, Emperor Constantine summoned a council to rule on Arius’s position, that “affirmed a kind of Trinity made up of three “divine” beings (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), only one of whom is truly God.” Through the guidance of Alexander of Alexandria and Athanasius, orthodox doctrine would prevail, and the emperor would decree that Arius’s teaching was heresy and banished him. Subsequently, the council recognized the necessity of writing an indisputable definition of faith, which affirmed orthodoxy against Arian heterodoxy. Alexander and Athanasius would be directly involved in this aspect of the proceedings. Although Alexander had prominence, Athanasius significantly affected the development of Trinitarian theology through his uncompromising opposition to Arianism. Additionally, his rhetoric as well as assistance to Alexander directly influenced the words chosen for the Nicene Creed. Therefore, this paper identifies the impact that Athanasius had in establishing the Nicene Creed as the unifying creed among the church at the First Council of Nicaea (AD 325).
In his book In the Beginning: Hijacking of the Religion of God: Volume 2: Christianity (Xlibris, 2009), El-Soudani closely examines the historical – and controversial – roots of Christian belief in the divinity of Jesus. The author does not deny the existence of Jesus but he rejects the claim that He was divine.
Throughout the book of John, Jesus did many signs and miracles. Through these signs, Jesus attempted to show both the multitudes as well as his disciples one small truth about Him—His is God. In this gospel, Jesus goes toe-to-toe with many of the Jewish spiritual leaders (i.e., Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, etc.) in order to show the people who He truly is. Scholars disagree with how many Messianic signs Jesus performed, but one thing remains—every single sign pointed back to the fact that Jesus was who He claimed to be. The signs performed by Jesus show both the Israelites of old, as well as the people of today, that He is, indeed, God.
Johannine literature truly portrays Jesus as God, with the theme of His deity interwoven throughout numerous passages. In this respect, John’s style differs from the other four gospels, as Bickel & Jantz (1998) point out that the other three had been written prior to John’s gospel, therefore, “he wasn’t interested in just retelling the events” (p. 222). Since Jesus is the focal point of Scripture, a scholar of the New Testament with uncertainty concerning Jesus’ oneness with God will fail to perceive the crux of Christianity. Therefore, in spite of its importance, John does not focus on Jesus’ entrance into the