Evaluate the claim that Jesus is most credibly understood as the Son of God.
Bullet Points:
Intro:
• St John- miracles show his divinity
• Jesus' miracles and knowledge of God are evidence enough to prove his homoousios with God as written in the Nicene Creed "We
believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God"
• Ayer: credibility comes down to if your statement can be veri ed
• Jesus: teacher of wisdom and healer who was promoted by the faith of early Christians into God but that there is no empirical
evidence to suggest he was the Son of God
• we now live in a secular, scienti c age where Jesus' miracles are not credible without empirical evidence
• He is an ideal example of a person for Christians to follow
• Jesus is not the Son of God as his miracles are misunderstood/mistranslated and his spiritual knowledge has been misconstrued
P1:
P: The strongest argument to prove that Jesus was not the Son of God is that the miracles of Jesus have never occurred since and it is more likely that they
were misunderstood or mistranslated orally
E:
• Mainstream Christian thinking: ability to perform miracles is evidence of his divine nature as breaking the laws of physics is
something only God can do and requires divine attributes (Gospel of Mark- The Calming of the Storm)- omnipotent power of God
over nature
• Hume's Essay on Miracles (1748)- these transgressions such as the resurrection have never happened since and it is more rational to
believe they were mistaken
R:
• St Paul: resurrection is the rock (basis) of Christianity and faith is "evidence of things we cannot see" (Hebrews 11:1).
J to Doubting Thomas in John 20: "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed". Faith is crucial. Kierkegaard's 'leap of faith'
to go against logic, reason and rationality.
E:
BUT reduces Christianity to an irrational superstition (cult-like?)
• Lessing + Bultmann: anything that goes against laws of physics is not credible. we need to demythologise the text. These miracles
were used to convey/universalise moral messages but did not literally happen
• Ayer: veri cation principle- resurrection is not meaningful as there is no empirical data to verify it
• Misunderstanding or mistranslated orally
• We live in a scienti c age where it simply isn't credible to believe that the laws of nature could be broken in this way
P2:
P: Jesus was one of many inspiring holy people but his spiritual knowledge has been misconstrued
E:
• Dawkins: 'Jesus was a great moral teacher' and his spiritual knowledge has been misconstrued. He spoke on moral issues and the
importance of love, self-sacri ce, honesty, justice and peace.
• Bible: Jesus as Rabbi (teacher) due to his interpretation of the law and his followers' respect
• John Hick: Jesus was one of many inspiring holy people but does not have a unique relationship and knowledge of God
• Moses, Jeremiah, the Isaiahs, Muhammed, Guru Nanak, St Francis, Kabir, Ramakrishna and many others were all moral guides that
showed how we should live but were not the Son of God, just like Jesus.
•
R: Jesus calls God 'Abba' (Greek for 'father' or 'dad') and a heavenly voice declares Jesus 'my son' (the Baptism of Jesus, Mark
1:9-11) but Jesus does not use 'son' himself
• Councel of Chalcedon: Demonstrates a great knowledge about faith and spiritual blindness in the healing of the man born blind (John
9:1-41) even saying "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you" proving his two natures of being both divine
and human (hypostatic union) and Jesus being one substance with God (homoousios)- unique insight into God's teachings as went
against Jewish teachings
• Gospel of John: 'ego eimi' meaning 'I am' which expresses divinity
• Karl Rahner: Jesus' understanding of his divinity as an onion- deep within he knew he was the Son of God
• E:
• Many of these statements like 'ego eimi' were written long after Jesus died to prove his divinity when he was more widely understood
as the Son of God and to ful l his role as the Messiah
• Macquarrie: early Gospels had very low Christology as there was not a widespread belief or understanding that he was the Messiah
or divine, but the later high Christology of John came as a result of a belief in his divinity
• E.P Sanders: Even if Jesus described himself as the Son of God he may not have meant that he was literally the Son of God nor
would people have interpreted this as meaning he was divine
• Hypostatic union: dies the death of a thousand quali cations (Flew)- changed events of Jesus’ life as John did to make him seem
more divine and ful ll the new understanding of Jesus as the Son of God
• It is more credible to explain his knowledge through seeing him as an exceptional teacher of wisdom, rather than needing a super-
natural explanation.
fi fifi fifi fi fi fi
Bullet Points:
Intro:
• St John- miracles show his divinity
• Jesus' miracles and knowledge of God are evidence enough to prove his homoousios with God as written in the Nicene Creed "We
believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God"
• Ayer: credibility comes down to if your statement can be veri ed
• Jesus: teacher of wisdom and healer who was promoted by the faith of early Christians into God but that there is no empirical
evidence to suggest he was the Son of God
• we now live in a secular, scienti c age where Jesus' miracles are not credible without empirical evidence
• He is an ideal example of a person for Christians to follow
• Jesus is not the Son of God as his miracles are misunderstood/mistranslated and his spiritual knowledge has been misconstrued
P1:
P: The strongest argument to prove that Jesus was not the Son of God is that the miracles of Jesus have never occurred since and it is more likely that they
were misunderstood or mistranslated orally
E:
• Mainstream Christian thinking: ability to perform miracles is evidence of his divine nature as breaking the laws of physics is
something only God can do and requires divine attributes (Gospel of Mark- The Calming of the Storm)- omnipotent power of God
over nature
• Hume's Essay on Miracles (1748)- these transgressions such as the resurrection have never happened since and it is more rational to
believe they were mistaken
R:
• St Paul: resurrection is the rock (basis) of Christianity and faith is "evidence of things we cannot see" (Hebrews 11:1).
J to Doubting Thomas in John 20: "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed". Faith is crucial. Kierkegaard's 'leap of faith'
to go against logic, reason and rationality.
E:
BUT reduces Christianity to an irrational superstition (cult-like?)
• Lessing + Bultmann: anything that goes against laws of physics is not credible. we need to demythologise the text. These miracles
were used to convey/universalise moral messages but did not literally happen
• Ayer: veri cation principle- resurrection is not meaningful as there is no empirical data to verify it
• Misunderstanding or mistranslated orally
• We live in a scienti c age where it simply isn't credible to believe that the laws of nature could be broken in this way
P2:
P: Jesus was one of many inspiring holy people but his spiritual knowledge has been misconstrued
E:
• Dawkins: 'Jesus was a great moral teacher' and his spiritual knowledge has been misconstrued. He spoke on moral issues and the
importance of love, self-sacri ce, honesty, justice and peace.
• Bible: Jesus as Rabbi (teacher) due to his interpretation of the law and his followers' respect
• John Hick: Jesus was one of many inspiring holy people but does not have a unique relationship and knowledge of God
• Moses, Jeremiah, the Isaiahs, Muhammed, Guru Nanak, St Francis, Kabir, Ramakrishna and many others were all moral guides that
showed how we should live but were not the Son of God, just like Jesus.
•
R: Jesus calls God 'Abba' (Greek for 'father' or 'dad') and a heavenly voice declares Jesus 'my son' (the Baptism of Jesus, Mark
1:9-11) but Jesus does not use 'son' himself
• Councel of Chalcedon: Demonstrates a great knowledge about faith and spiritual blindness in the healing of the man born blind (John
9:1-41) even saying "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you" proving his two natures of being both divine
and human (hypostatic union) and Jesus being one substance with God (homoousios)- unique insight into God's teachings as went
against Jewish teachings
• Gospel of John: 'ego eimi' meaning 'I am' which expresses divinity
• Karl Rahner: Jesus' understanding of his divinity as an onion- deep within he knew he was the Son of God
• E:
• Many of these statements like 'ego eimi' were written long after Jesus died to prove his divinity when he was more widely understood
as the Son of God and to ful l his role as the Messiah
• Macquarrie: early Gospels had very low Christology as there was not a widespread belief or understanding that he was the Messiah
or divine, but the later high Christology of John came as a result of a belief in his divinity
• E.P Sanders: Even if Jesus described himself as the Son of God he may not have meant that he was literally the Son of God nor
would people have interpreted this as meaning he was divine
• Hypostatic union: dies the death of a thousand quali cations (Flew)- changed events of Jesus’ life as John did to make him seem
more divine and ful ll the new understanding of Jesus as the Son of God
• It is more credible to explain his knowledge through seeing him as an exceptional teacher of wisdom, rather than needing a super-
natural explanation.
fi fifi fifi fi fi fi
