Marxism was born at the time when Protestant theologians were busy in their search for the historical Jesus — a quest very much predetermined by the rationalistic methods and philosophical views of the time. For Karl Marx, ‘criticism of religion has been essentially completed’, and so he shows no interest in the founder of the Christian faith. Read more
The central miracle asserted by Christians is the incarnation. They say that God became Man.
It is impossible to read in the Gospels the account of Jesus‘ ministry without being struck by the many stories about Jesus doing things such as healing people and stilling the storm which people normally cannot do. There are over thirty such incidents recorded, apart from some general accounts which refer to large numbers of people being healed. Read more
Was a common first name for a Jewish man. Nine others of this name are known at the time. It was the Greek version of three common Hebrew names,
Joshua, Jehoshua and Jeshua. This was the name by which Jesus was known in his lifetime, and it occurs nearly 600 “ales in the Gospels. Its meaning was: ‘The Lord (Yahweh) is my help’ or ‘Yahweh rescues’. Later New Testament writers use the name rarely; only the writer to the Hebrews uses it much. It stresses Jesus‘ humanity, as the carpenter of Nazareth. Read more
Early in the fourth century. Arius taught that the Father alone was true God. This denial of Christ’s true deity was countered by councils of church leaders at Nicea (325) and Constantinople (381), and by great theologians such as Athanasius. The Nicene Creed was the product of these synods. At last the Church established that the Son was as fully divine as the Father. Like Irenaeus in the second century, Athanasius showed how the hope of salvation depended on Christ’s being true God as well as true man. The Christian could confidently trust Jesus Christ for salvation, because he was none other than God himself, ‘who became man for us men and for our salvation‘. No one less than God could restore us to fellowship with God. Read more
Jesus Christ is the heart of the Christian faith. What has the Christian church believed about Jesus down the centuries? Who was, who is Jesus Christ? Man, or God, or both? If he is both, how are his manhood and his ‘Godhood’, or divinity, related to each other?
These are questions about the person of Christ - who he is. As a subject of Christian belief it has traditionally been distinguished from the work of Christ-what he did and does for humanity as saviour and Lord. This article traces the development of Christian beliefs about the person of Christ. ‘Christ°logy’ is the name theologians use for this subject. Read more
Modern theology cannot be understood apart from the influence of the movement of thought in the eighteenth century known as the Enlightenment. This gave a new authority and freedom to human reason. Since then, the supernatural character of the life and work of Christ has often been rejected or watered down. Friedrich Schleiermacher (born 1768) is frequently called the father of modern theology’. He thought of Jesus Christ as divine because of his unique consciousness of God. Jesus was first and foremost the perfect example of a life lived in total dependence upon God.
Although ‘absolutely distinguished from all other men through his essential sinlessness and his absolute perfection’, he was no more than a man. Read more
We have no idea what Jesus looked like. There are no physical descriptions of him at all in the Gospels. Yet the person of Jesus and events of his life have been one of the greatest subjects of art throughout the centuries. He has inspired artists of many different cultures, even of many different faiths. We often learn more about the artist and his cultural setting than we do about Jesus. Read more
The traditional Christian doctrine of the incarnation, that is Christ was God made man, has recently been increasly questioned. The modern ‘Christian can no longer believe, literal fact, some say, that Jesus is God. The doctrine of the incarnation may be valuable as myth’, which expresses the Christian’s attitude to Christ in embolic way, but it is not rally true. They also argue t we lose nothing essential Christianity if we abandon belief. Read more
