Jesus PDF

ROLE OF JESUS - Entire Christian faith - centered on Jesus Christ - Christ comes from Greek word meaning “Anointed one” - He is the Messiah as prophesied in Old Testament - Saviour of humanity - Second person of the Trinity, sinless Son of God, who died fo...

ROLE OF JESUS - Entire Christian faith - centered on Jesus Christ - Christ comes from Greek word meaning “Anointed one” - He is the Messiah as prophesied in Old Testament - Saviour of humanity - Second person of the Trinity, sinless Son of God, who died for the sins of the world DEATH OF JESUS BRIDGED THE GAP BETWEEN MANKIND AND GOD Who was Jesus? EARLY LIFE - Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born to Virgin Mary - Lived and practiced in Jewish tradition during Roman occupation of Holy Land - Belief in the Messiah returning is popular - At 12 years old he is found in the Temple teaching scripture from the Torah - Unusual as he was raised as a carpenter’s son, uneducated SOCIETY during the time of Jesus  - During Roman occupation of Holy Land (Judea) and Jewish people - Were under oppression - Feared for their religious identity - Believed return of the kingdom of God and saviour was imminent (Messiah) - Political structure was controlled by King Herod - Puppet King for the Romans - Societal structure - small minority controlled wealth and power - Everyone else is poor and oppressed RELIGIOUS STRUCTURE during time of Jesus - Different Jewish sects evolved with various ideas about the Jewish tradition, scripture, and futures of the future of the nation - Sadducees (Saaah-due-sees) - Jewish leaders who cooperated with the Romans to preserve the temple and traditional way of life - Represented wealthy and aristocracy - Read Torah literally  - Pharisees - Cooperated w/ romans - Biblical scholars - Represented common people - Feared for their religious identity - Torah interpreted more broadly, encouraged interpretation and commentary - Zealots - DID NOT cooperate w/ Romans at all - Rebels fighting for independence from Romans All SECTS shared belief in the return of the kingdom of God and arrival of a saviour or “Messiah” was imminent. DURING ROMAN OCCUPATION OF HOLY LAND - JESUS was Political threat - Upsetting political structure/creating civil disturbances - Said he was King of the Jews - inciting nationalism  - Threat to Religious leaders - Spreading new ideas about God/ Performed Miracles - Said he was the son of god STORY/LIFE of JESUS - Age 30 - baptized by John the Baptist- purified by the Holy Spirit - God spoke to him and told him he was the chosen one - Began to preach that the kingdom of God was near - Gained many followers - 12 apostles disciples that helped him spread God’s word - Gospel - Began to preach about a new form of Judaism and challenged old ideas in the Torah - Parables REVELATION OR SEDITION?  - Preached about more attention to spiritual life rather than material or physical practices/things - Love the poor and downtrodden - Give up possessions - Love your enemy - Seeking forgiveness from god and repenting your sins AT AGE 33 JESUS WAS ARRESTED, CRUCIFIED, KILLED AND ENTOMBED WHY: - Undermined Roman authority - Upsetting political structure - Creating civil disturbances - Said he was King of the Jews - inciting nationalism - Put himself above the Torah JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD THREE DAYS LATER - Confirmed the coming of Messiah - Solidified establishment of early Christian church 40 days after his resurrection he ascended into Heaven - JESUS told his Apostles to preach the “good news” - Forgiving others, loving your neighbours and enemies KEY DOCTRINES 1. THE INCARNATION - Incarnate: incarnare “to make flesh” “To give shape or body to” - Christ is both fully divine and human - God is in human form 2. HOLY TRINITY Doctrine that states that God consists of three persons yet is one Essence. Each element of the Trinity is fully god, but there’s only one god FATHER - Creator and judge of humankind - Personal and accessible directly through prayer SON - Redeemer and saviour of humankind - Human form of God - Divine as well as human HOLY SPIRIT  - God within each of humankind - Life giving presence of God within humans - Energizes humans as spiritual beings DEVELOPMENT There are 342 DENOMINATIONS. - After Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection, Christianity spread rapidly. Influential in this are two men: Paul - Apostle to the Gentiles (5-67 CE) - Student of the Torah - Pharisee - Adept and dedicated student - Believed in strict application of law - Considered earlier followers of Christ to be violating the Torah - Persecuted early followers of Christ - Followed law of Torah strictly until - Experienced the risen Christ - Became an Apostle (messenger) of a new Christian form of Judaism - Salvation comes w/ grace of God and faith in Christ not observance of the Torah - Became one of the first Christian converts AFTER CONVERSION: - Traveled all over Europe to establish Christian communities and spreads God’s word (Gospel) - Jewish and Roman citizen - Started churches and gained converts What else helps Paul’s influence is Pax Romana in the ROMAN EMPIRE - The empire covered a wide area - Time of peace, tolerance and diversity among cultural groups under Roman Authority - Height of Roman influence, trade and power - Roman provinces secure and interconnected - Roads and trade routes well maintained - Trade prospered the entire Roman region Roman Emperor Constantine (325 CE) - First Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity - Declared religious tolerance for Christianity throughout empire - Moved capital city from Rome to Byzantium (Constantiniple, modern day Istanbul) - This creates 2 power centres in early church (West & East) So, the emperor calls meeting of 200 church leaders - In Nicaea, Turkey - To Unify/Clarify principles of early Christian church  This Creates Nicene Creed - Statement of beliefs or faith - Universally accepted by Christians around the world - Intent was to unify the Christian church, but it also established a division NICENE CREED - Filioque Clause - East - Holy Spirit came from God the father only - West - Roman leaders added “and the son” - Father and Son sent forth the Holy spirit East (ORTHODOX) West (ROMAN CATHOLIC) The Eastern Schism - 1054 CE - Eastern Orthodox/ Western Roman Catholic - Break or split officially occurred in 1054 - Each church excommunicated the other one's leader from their church Why? - Two power centers Rome and Constantinople - Communication geography and language - Loss of political unity - Fall of Roman empire - “Filioque clause” was the spark The Eastern Schism -  - 1. The Pope Successor to St Peter - Jesus handpicked leader of the Apostles - Supremacy of the pope as the only successor - Believe Pope is Successor to Saint Peter - Leader Of Church (Bishop Of Rome) - 2. Church as a teaching authority Eastern Orthodox don't have successor of Peter, there is no teaching authority - Believe god’s truth is disclosed through - The conscience of church - Represented by Christians in general - The conscience of the people is the science of the church - The Holy Spirit allows Christians to make good decisions THE REFORMATION - 1517 Reformation - to change - 2nd great Schism in Christianity - Lead by - Martin Luther Martin Luther (1517)  - Leader of the Reformation movement - Tried to reform the Roman Catholic Church - Disagreed with the Catholic Church - About it’s interpretation of the Bible - The relationship between the believer and God Corruption Martin Luther wanted to eliminate the corruption, indulgences, and non-religious influence within the Church. - Forgiveness was SOLD and those who sold it got a commission (indulgences) - Some clergy ignored the vow of celibacy - Scriptures could only read in Latin and were thus not accessible to all people - Higher Church officials lived in luxury while others lived in poverty - High positions in the clergy were for sale - Wealthy were exempted from Church Law Martin Luther wrote 95 THESES: A list of propositions to help reform the Catholic Church. - Promoted translation of Bible - Latin into German  - So that common people could understand scripture (Invention Of Printing Press helps with this) CORE OF LUTHOR’S PHILOSOPHY Sola fide (by faith alone) Believes Christians could only win salvation through faith in God, not “actions” such as: - doing good deeds - worshipping icons - paying indulgences Sola scriptura (by holy scripture alone) - Only way for the believer to know God was through the scriptures, and faith in knowing god - Believers did not need the clergy to interpret or explain God’s word LEGACY OF LUTHER’S PHILOSOPHY - Luther’s attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church were unsuccessful - Ended up splitting away from the Catholic Church - Founded his own Christian Church, Lutheranism - Lutheranism and any other non-Catholic form of Christianity became known was Protestantism  - All protestants are descended from Luther’s split from the Roman Catholic Church Milestones - Sacraments - Important Milestones in religious life of a Christian - Celebration of a new stage in life - Roman Catholic SACRAMENT - “mystery” - Acknowledged as grace or “favour from God” - Sacred rites that are thought capable of transmitting the mystery of Christ to worshippers INITIATION - Baptism - Cleanses soul of original sin - Adam and Eve - Signals beginning of Christian life - Holy Communion - Celebrates last supper at Passover - Jesus shares body and blood with apostles - Transubstantiation - metaphysical, not physical change  - Not actually eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ Confirmation - Attainment of full participation in the church HEALING Confession - Confess sins to God - Seek absolution and forgiveness - Reconciliation for wrong doing - Anointing the sick or dying - Ritual preparation for death - Funeral serves to: - Commend body to heaven - Console family SERVICE Matrimony - Marriage - Sacred vow before God as the witness  - Ordination - Those called to do God’s work are filled w/ holy spirit - just like Apostles - Formal recognition of entry into the clergy THE BIBLE Christian Bible includes: Old Testament - The same books as the Tanakh + New Testament - Collection of 27 books - Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, Epistles - Jesus is the central figure