Divinity In Richard Rubenstein's When Jesus Became God

However, John does not state them directly in the book. Most likely, the paramount recipients of John were Jewish Christians. Messiah is used to refer to Jesus, and the use of terms bread, water, and light in John 5-10 are “closely connected to their use in Jewish rituals” (Hwang). However, a contradicting theory states, due to the author’s “hostile manner” in referring to them, that the gospel was written for the Jews who do not believe. This is disbelieved due to those against Jesus mainly involving scribes and Pharisees, a quality that has been used to testify that the author of John is, in fact, Jewish (Guthrie).

It is well noted that there were some secret disciples of Jesus among the Pharisees. After hearing Nicodemus, Jesus neither comforted himself with the flattery of Nicodemus nor acknowledged the content of the words. Jesus’ mission was to proclaim the Kingdom of God. Jesus had no time for flattery; he went straight to the point.

Marsden’s first critique is Niebuhr’s abstract definition of Christ. Based on Niebuhr’s faith tradition he “tended to separate the Christ of faith from the Jesus of history” and, in his work, seems to be describing a Christ who stands above culture (6). However, Marsden argues that when Niebuhr mentions “Christ” he really means “various Christians’ efforts to follow Christ” (7). Marsden contends Niebuhr might have utilized the word “Christ” to make it clear he was dealing with the teachings of Christianity,

Question:"Consider the figure of Jesus in the Gospel of John, the Gospel of Thomas, or the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Who or what is Jesus, in the Gospel that you have selected?" When studying the Gospel of John, Jesus is identified as the Son of God because the metaphor of the Lamb is used, Jesus Christ is mentioned instead of Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus acknowledges himself to the world as the Son of God. In the Gospel, the Lamb of God is referenced multiple times and distinguishes a sacrifice is in the mist. The reader consciously knows Jesus is God’s only son, nevertheless making the role of sacrifice an even harder burden to carry.

Judaism proposed that one was justified by meritorious keeping of law in conjunction with atonement for sin by meritorious deeds. This system of justification, commonly referred to by Bible students as legalism, had made significant inroads into the church. This thinking attacked the grace of God, and thus, Paul wrote in chapter 1-8 a defense of the fundamental principle that men are saved by the grace of God. (2).

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” Genesis 1:1 is the opening sentence of the Holy Bible which seeks to bring about how this world was created and how God created it in a Christian perspective. This Biblical creation view according to James Houston “form a necessary and central part of any part of Christian Belief and also it is believed through faith. Because it is impossible to prove scientifically how and when the earth originated, it is “through faith” that we discern the hand of God in creation. Hebrews 11:13 states that “It is by faith that we understand that the universe was created by God’s word” There are a lot of reasons that can be considered in order to believe the biblical view of creation but in this case we are going to consider a few.

As stated before, within Catholic Christianity, Jesus Christ is known to be the Son of God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that, “The name "Jesus" signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of his Son, made man for the universal and definitive redemption from sins” (5). This proves that Jesus Christ is God himself in the form of his Son, who was born to save

For the faithful Jew, the place to celebrate the great moments of their faith was Jerusalem. In the Jewish liturgical year, the Passover was unsurpassed; little wonder Jesus was there. Jerusalem was also the centre of power – religious and secular; events here have an altogether greater significance. The author places “The Cleansing of the Temple” at this point in his Gospel – it is a very different account from what we read in the other Gospels.

The bible reveals doctrines that are essential to Christian faith. Christian reflection doctrine and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth stemmed from his life and death in the 1st century AD. “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world” (John4:2-3) I feel that the central teaching of Christianity steams from generation to generation since the beginning of time. Our parents instilled the Christians teaching that was instilled in them by their parents. The Christian basic teaching is there is a heaven and earth and that our sin is forgiven, and we must repent for the forgiveness of all your sins.

Bultmann is known for his belief that the historical analysis of the New Testament is both futile and unnecessary. Bultmann argues that all that is integral is the "thatness" of Jesus, meaning that only Jesus existence preaching and death by crucifixion matters in his life as these are based on historical facts. Therefore Bultmann dismisses the images of Jesus as a teacher and a healer as unimportant. As these deal with Jesus’ character such as his role as a teacher and his explanations of the message of God many find viewing images of Jesus as the easiest way of interpreting Jesus and his message. However Bultmann is greatly criticized for his views on Christology by Christologists today.

The first amendment of the constitution states “congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. This establishment clause was made to create a wall of separation between church and state. The cartoon “God’s Oath” created by artist Jeff Parker is showing how there is religion involved in the government. The artist does so by showing a realistic setting with added emphasized text, expression, and with the use of irony.

Protestants contend that the New Testament offers no proof that Jesus established the papacy nor even that he established Peter as the first bishop of Rome.[33] Others, using Peter 's own words, argue that Christ intended himself as the foundation of the church and not Peter.[34][35] Others have argued that the church is indeed built upon Jesus and faith, but also on the disciples as the roots and foundations of the church on the basis of Paul 's teaching in Romans and Ephesians, though not primarily

Culture, is the social norm in a group of people. Christ completely changed culture when he walked the earth as he hanged around harlots, and touched the diseased. To be expected to change culture as a Christian is

I found it interesting that NT Wright was clarifying the differences between God’s wrath and penal substitution with reform theologian Thomas Schreiner in this video. I was a little unsure, but this video affirmed my understanding that NT Wright was a unique blend of sweet and sour flavors enhanced by hot and spicy pepper that Thomas Schreiner was hot for him to take in. I agree with NT Wright argument the wrath of God. Why? Because Wright says that the cross was about much more than Jesus absolving us of sin.

In chapter 3 of Speaking of Jesus, Carl Medearis talks about what it means to own Christianity. He says "If we don't truly know what the gospel is, we have to find an explanation for Christianity." Meaning that if we do not know what the gospel is or what it is teaching us, then we try to define it by our own standards, and that is where it gets messy. Medearis talks about how Christianity is more than a religion, but it is a relationship and people tend to not understand that. He explains why people are so defensive and put up their guards towards Christians, because Christians can be so judgemental.