A Survey of the New Testament - Assignment Example

Question Jesus Christ is credited with many s and s in the New Testament, the majority whereof are connected with the attributes that were ascribed to the Messiah in the Judaic tradition. However, there were also some completely new names and appellations that reflected the core tenets of a newly emerging Christian teaching. John’s Gospel may be used as one of the sources for the New Testament listing of Christ’s names and titles. For instance, Jesus is described as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John New International Version 1:29), or as “the Savior of the world” (4:42). On the other hand, in the Epistle to Philippians, Jesus is referred to as “being in very nature God” (Philippians 2:6 New International Version), and Jesus frequently refers to Himself as “the Son of Man” in the Gospels (e.g. Luke 6:3 New International Version). Finally, the title of “Son from heaven” (1 Thessalonians 1:4 New International Version) is rather instructive. The title of “Lamb of God” is ascribed to Jesus in the scene of his meeting with the first two Apostles, who are immediately drawn to His worship and following. The word “Lamb” may be used as a poetic equivalent of the title “Son”, so that God Father is compared to the Shepherd guarding His Son. This may be rather unorthodox view, but such comparison is easily drawn from this title. The title of “the Savior of the World” is connected with the episode in the Gospels, when Jesus encountered a Samaritan woman to whom he told of everything that ever transpired to her in her life. This act led to many Samaritans becoming believers and praising Jesus as the Savior of the World. The characteristic of Jesus as “in very nature God” is directly connected with the concept of Him as God the Son, and is used by Paul to simultaneously call for humility among the believers. The titles of “Son of Man” and “Son of heaven” are expressions of the dual nature of Jesus – both Divine and human. Among all these titles and names, those of “the Savior of the world”, “Son of Man”, and “Son of heaven”, are especially helpful, as they express most important attributes of Jesus as God the Son. On the other hand, such title as “the Lamb of God” may be considered the least helpful, due to its vague and poetic character. Question #2 The development of early Church was greatly conditioned by the religious, personal and political factors that had great impact upon its emergence. The factors of particular importance shall be examined below. The growth of the early Church would have been impossible, had it not been for conversion of large numbers of the Gentiles that allowed Christianity to escape the narrow national confines of Judaic world. For instance, Luke himself, who was ostensibly Apostle Paul’s disciple, presumably hailed from the Gentile family in Syria before his conversion (Gundry, 2003). The ability of the Christian faith to draw in relatively large masses of non-Hebrew adherents was predicated on its initial openness and ‘catholic’, that is, universal, character. The emphasis on the Apostles as the teachers of various peoples that forms one of the main parts of the plot in the Book of Acts (Acts 2:2 – 2:47 The New International Version) explains rather precisely the universalistic appeal of the early Church since the times of Paul and Luke at least. Another important aspect of the early Church growth was predicated upon its strong emphasis to the formation of a new morality that was in many aspects a polar opposite to that of the Pagan world. While being firmly grounded in Judaic tradition, this new Christian morality offered a respite from excessively patriarchal and authoritarian mores of the traditional Pagan world, without being ‘liberatory’ in the modern sense of this term. The Pauline ideas on that matter are particularly instructive in this regard, as may be demonstrated Finally, but, perhaps, most importantly, the very existence of the Roman Empire as a ‘global’ imperial state encompassing all of the Mediterranean had a tremendous influence on the spread and development of Christianity as an organized religion. Despite all the persecutions that were periodically directed against the Christians, the Roman Emperors indirectly and unwillingly contributed to its spread by facilitating trade and migration routes between different areas of their domains, thus making it possible for Christian preachers to proselytize among the lower-class, and later upper-class, populations of the Roman world. Question # 3 The Johannine literature encompasses the parts of the New Testament that are ascribed to John the Apostle. These include the Gospel of John itself, the three Epistles of John, and the Book of Revelation, or the Apocalypse. The main importance of the Johannine literature for the scholar of the New Testament lies in coherence with which these books of the New Testament lay out the core revelatory and eschatological elements of the Christian doctrine. Without this, it would have been impossible to conceive of the nature of Jesus’ Mission. Of particular importance are such Johannine concepts as ‘life’, or ‘eternal life’, which forms the crux of the Christian notion of salvation. Unlike the authors of other Gospels, John avoids references to the traditional concept of ‘the kingdom of God’ (with the exception of John 3.3., 3.5 The New International Version). This means that the Johannine interpretation overcomes the traditionalist view of ‘the kingdom of the God’ as a spatial formation distinct from ‘the world’, emphasizing instead the inner, spiritualistic dimensions of salvation. Such a view was instrumental for the formation of modern Christian doctrine as such. Another important aspect of the Johannine literature is its great interest toward eschatological concepts. The Apocalypse is indeed devoted to this subject, presenting a fairly complete picture of the Christian eschatology. The Gospel of John itself, however, may also be considered ‘eschatological’, to a certain extent, as it devotes a lot of space to the discussion of the future ‘eternal life’. Unlike the Old Testament, with its emphasis on the Law, the Gospel of John emphasizes the Salvation as a real and meaningful sense of Jesus’ Mission. Finally, the importance of the Johannine literature lies in the new concept of Jesus as Logos, ‘the word’, the manifestation of the Deity in the world. The First Epistle of John is particularly instructive in this regard, as it introduces the concept of Jesus as “advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:2 The New International Version). This concept is generally lacking in other New Testament works, yet it is important step away from the traditional Judaic views on the relationship between men and the God. In this sense, just as in many others, the Johannine canon is of utmost interest. Question # 4 The relationship between God the Father and God the Son has always been one of the core aspects of the Christian theology. Here it is necessary to analyze evidence from various New Testament sources in order to assess it correctly. The Gospel of Matthew conceives of the God the Son, as the Divine interlocutor between God and the Father and the faithful: “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Matthew 11:25 The New International Version). As this is cited as the words of Jesus Himself, it is clear that the importance of God the Son as the Messenger of God the Father was unambiguously upheld in the Gospels. Similarly, in the First Epistle of John Jesus Christ is described as ‘the Word of life’, which “was with the Father and has appeared to us” (1 John 1:1 The New International Version). As “God is the light” (1 John 1:5), it is clear then that God the Son is regarded as ‘the Word’ of God the Father in a mortal world. In Paul’s Epistle to Philippians, Jesus as God the Son is likewise described as “being in very nature God”, but, simultaneously, as someone who “did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage” (Philippians 2:6-7 The New International Version). God the Father “exalted him to the highest place” (2:9), and “the peace of God” is assumed to “guard… hearts and… minds in Christ Jesus” (4:4). Thus, Jesus Christ is regarded as the both the acting force of Divine presence in the world and the incarnation of God the Father. In Epistle to Colossians, Paul thanks “God, the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ” for the rigor and steadfastness of the Colossian Church. Then he goes on to provide an energetic account of God the Son’s qualities and attributes. In Paul’s version: The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1:15-20 Therefore, in Pauline Christology, God the Son is actually an embodiment of God the Father, which is simultaneously an instrument of Creation and its embodiment. God the Son is ascribed the qualities of the supreme guide of the Church as the community of the faithful; His mission is, at the same, a ‘reconciliation’ of not only the humanity, but “all things” (1:20), with the Divine rule. References Bible. The New International Version. Gundry, R.H. (2003). A survey of the New Testament (4th ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. Read More