Christianity

Theme 1: Religious figures and sacred texts A, B and C and AO2

Booklet 1

Theme 1: Religious figures and sacred texts

Knowledge and understanding of religion and belief

Jesus – his birth:

Consistency and credibility of the birth narratives (Matthew 1:18-2:23; Luke
A. 1:26-2:40); harmonisation and redaction; interpretation and application of
the birth narratives to the doctrine of the incarnation (substantial presence
and the kenotic model).

Jesus – his resurrection:

The views of Rudolf Bultmann and N.T. Wright on the relation of the resurrection
event to history;
B. interpretation and application to the understanding of death, the soul,
resurrected body and the afterlife,
with reference to Matthew 10:28; John 20-21; 1 Corinthians 15; Philippians 1:21-24.

The Bible as a source of wisdom and authority in daily life:

The ways in which the Bible is considered authoritative: as a source of moral
advice (Ecclesiastes
C. 12:13-14; Luke 6:36-37); as a guide to living (Psalm 119:9-16; Psalm 119:105-
112); as teaching on the meaning and purpose of life (Genesis 1:26-28; Ecclesiastes 9:5-9) and
as a source of comfort and encouragement (Psalm 46:1-3; Matthew 6:25).

Issues for analysis and evaluation will be drawn from any aspect of the content above, such as:
 The extent to which the birth narratives provide insight into the doctrine of the incarnation.
 The relative importance of redaction criticism for understanding the biblical birth narratives.
 The nature of the resurrected body.
 The historical reliability of the resurrection.
 The relative value of the Bible as teaching on the meaning and purpose of life.
 The extent to which the Psalms studied offer a guide to living for Christians.

Kerygma -The initial and essential proclamation of the gospel (and/or Christian) message.
Kenosis - Self-emptying, or the voluntary renunciation of Jesus’ divine attributes (such as omniscience
and omnipotence) in favour of servanthood (humility and obedience).
Substantial presence - The total and complete One Person of God the Son made Man, fully human and
fully divine, objectively present in the incarnation.
Redaction criticism - Regards the author of the text as editor (redactor) of his or her source materials,
adding comment and arranging material for a theological purpose.

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Theme 1 A Jesus – his birth

1. Consistency and credibility of birth narratives (Matthew 1:18-2:23; Luke 1:26-2:40)

2. Harmonisation and redaction
3. Interpretation and application of the birth narratives to the doctrine of the incarnation
(substantial presence and the kenotic model)

Introduction to Matthew 1–2 and Luke 1–2:

Extract from Catholic Resources by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D

The birth of Jesus is narrated at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke.
Although the story may seem familiar, a close analysis shows that there are many significant differences
between the Matthean and Lukan accounts, with hardly anything in common between them. The
following are the only commonalities, and even these contain significant differences in the details:

Common Elements in Both Infancy Narratives:

 Main characters: Mary, Joseph, Jesus

 Supporting characters: Angels, Holy Spirit
 Titles attributed to Jesus: Christ, son of David
 Heritage: children of Abraham/Israel, house of David
 Place names: Nazareth in Galilee, Bethlehem in Judea
 Historical period: during the reign of King Herod

Different Contents of the Two Accounts:

Luke 1–2 (total of 132 verses, plus 16 more in

Matthew 1–2 (only 48 verses, including genealogy)
genealogy)
1:18-24 - An unnamed angel announces Jesus’ birth to 1:26-38 - Angel Gabriel announces Jesus’ birth
Joseph in a dream to Mary while awake
1:39-56 - Mary visits Elizabeth (incl. Mary's
-
“Magnificat”)
1:57-58 - Elizabeth gives birth to her son (John
-
the Baptist)
1:59-80 - John the Baptist is circumcised &
-
named (incl. Zechariah's “Benedictus”)
2:1-5 - Joseph & Mary journey to Bethlehem for
-
the census
1:25 & 2:1a - Mary’s son is born in Bethlehem of 2:6-7 - Mary gives birth to her son in Bethlehem
Judea, and named Jesus of Judea. Laid in a manger
2:8-14 - Angels appear to some shepherds (incl.
the "Gloria" of the angels)
2:15-20 - Shepherds visit Mary, Joseph and the
infant lying in a manger
2:21 - The infant is circumcised and named Jesus
2:22-38 - Jesus is presented to God in the
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 Temple (incl. Simeon's "Nunc Dimittis")
2:1b-12 - Magi from the East come; they first visit
-
Herod, then Jesus in ‘a house’.
2:13-21 - Joseph and Mary flee to Egypt after angel
visits Joseph with the child Jesus; the Innocents are
-
murdered; the Holy Family returns to Israel after
another visit for the angel
2:22-23 - They journey to Nazareth 2:39-40 - The family returns to Nazareth

Different Theological Emphases of Each Narrative:

. Matthew 1–2 Luke 1–2

Driving Hebrew Scriptures are fulfilled (1:22-23; 2:5-
Holy Spirit is at work (1:1, 35, 41, 67; 2:25-27)
Force: 6, 15, 17-18, 23)
Jesus' * Son of God, son of Mary by the Holy Spirit
* Son of David, son of Abraham (1:1-17)
Heritage: (1:26-38)
* Legal son of Joseph, but child of the
* Heir to David's throne, over the house of
Holy Spirit (1:18-25)
Judah (1:32-33; 2:4)
Names * Jesus (1:31; 2:21)
* Messiah (1:1, 16-18; 2:4)
& Titles: * Son of the Most High; Son of God (1:32, 35)
* Jesus: "For he will save his people from
* He will be great, holy, full of wisdom and
their sins" (1:21, 25)
grace (1:32, 35; 2:40)
* Emmanuel: "God with us" (1:23)
* "Of his kingdom there will be no end" (1:33)
* King of the Jews (2:2)
* A Saviour is born... who is Messiah and Lord
* "A ruler who is to shepherd my people
(2:11, 26)
Israel" (2:6)
* A light for revelation to Gentiles and for
* Nazorean (2:23)
glory to Israel (2:32)
Characters Men: King David, Joseph of Nazareth, Women: Virgin Mary of Nazareth, Elizabeth,
Emphasized: Magi from the East, Anna
King Herod, chief priests & scribes, Poor & Aged: Shepherds, Zechariah, Simeon
Distinctive
Images:

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Old Testament Quotations and Allusions in Matthew's Infancy Narrative:

Matthew's Gospel Old Testament Texts

Matt 1:22-23 - All this took place to fulfil what had Isaiah 7:14 - "Therefore the Lord himself will give
been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child
"Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall bear a son, and shall name him
and they shall name him Emmanuel," which Immanuel."
means, "God is with us."
Matt 2:2 - [Magi ask Herod]: "Where is the child Numbers 24:17-19 - "I see him, but not now; I
who has been born king of the Jews? For we behold him, but not near-- a star shall come out
observed his star at its rising, and have come to of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it
pay him homage." (cf. 2:8) shall crush the borderlands of Moab, and the
territory of all the Shethites. / Edom will become a
possession, Seir a possession of its enemies, while
Israel does valiantly. / One out of Jacob shall rule,
and destroy the survivors of Ir."
Matt 2:5-6 - [scribes tell King Herod where the Micah 5:2 - "But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
Messiah will be born]: "In Bethlehem of Judea; for who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you
so it has been written by the prophet: / 'And you, shall come forth for me one who is to rule in
Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient
least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall days."
come a ruler who is to shepherd my people
Israel.'"
Matt 2:11b - Then, opening their treasure chests, Isaiah 60:3, 6 - "Nations shall come to your light,
they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and and kings to the brightness of your dawn... A
myrrh. multitude of camels shall cover you, the young
camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba
shall come. They shall bring gold and
frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the
LORD."
Matt 2:14-15 - Then Joseph got up, took the child Hosea 11:1 - "When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, / and and out of Egypt I called my son."
remained there until the death of Herod. This was
to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord
through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called
my son."
Matt 2:17-18 - Then was fulfilled what had been Jeremiah 31:15 - "Thus says the LORD: A voice is
spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: / "A voice heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping.
was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to
lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she be comforted for her children, because they are
refused to be consoled, because they are no no more."
more."

Historical Accuracy – Historicity

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Matthew – Herod’s massacre of the children of Bethlehem – not mentioned by contemporary historians
– Matthew could have invented it to show a similarity between Jesus and Moses, the Old Testament
hero who was similarly threatened by Pharaoh. However, the idea of the massacre is compatible with
what historians know about Herod – he killed three of his own sons.
Luke – claims his account is historically accurate – but his chronology of Jesus’ birth appears to be
mistaken. He writes that it happened when Quirinius was the governor of Syria – we know Quirinius
governed Syria, which included Judea, from 6CE to 12 CE, but it can’t be proved that he was governor ‘in
the days of Herod’, who died in 4CE. Unless he had served a previous term or a scribe mistook Quirinius
for Saturninus, who was from 9 BCE to 6CE, Luke’s timeline must be mistaken. There is no evidence of
an enrolment or census before 6/7 CE. It has also been claimed the three hymns in Luke’s Gospel were
in use before he wrote his Gospel, so Luke is wrong to ascribe them to Mary, Zechariah and Simeon.
Supernatural events in the accounts
Matthew – angel appears to Joseph – three times.
Angel appears to Wise Men
Luke – angel Gabriel appears to Mary, Elizabeth’s
unborn baby ‘leaped’. Jesus recognised as the Messiah
by Simeon and Anna in the Temple.

Both accounts – Holy Spirit and virgin birth – miracle

This clearly explains why there are conflicting views
and models presented later in Christianity to explain
how Jesus could be both human and divine.

1. Create a summary diagram to show the differences between Matthew and Luke’s accounts of
Jesus’ Birth

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 Redaction criticism: the theory that New Testament
writers altered existing materials about Jesus to suit
Harmonisation and redaction criticism their own agenda

Redaction Criticism is just one type of historical criticism. It focuses on how an author used various sources –
their editorial choices. One looks at those choices and tries to get a sense of the themes (or even the
theology) dear to that author. If two writers have access to the same source, but tell the story in two different
ways, then Redaction criticism can be done. Even if these writers do not have access to the same source, but
share a common theme, one can still make educated guesses as to their biases.
The birth narratives of Luke and Matthew contain stories arranged (redacted) for a theological purpose. In
contrast, the earliest gospel of Mark, written around 70 AD, contains no reference to birth stories at all. The
issue arises: how do we find out the author’s purpose in writing the gospels? Why did Matthew and Luke
insert birth narratives where Mark does not?
Redaction critics start with observation. If we line up the passages in Luke and Matthew against each other,
what do we discover? What do the observations tell us? First of all there is a driving force or essential gist of
the narrative. It seems to embody a message in the way it’s arranged, and the message of the two gospels is a
little different.
Matthew’s Gospel
Matthew suggests that the ‘Scriptures are fulfilled’. These scriptures are the Hebrew bible which foretold of a
Messiah who would come – a shepherd to Israel. One such messianic passage is Isaiah 53 which speaks of one
who would suffer, and of a flock of sheep gone astray – ‘all we like sheep have gone astray but the Lord has
laid on him the sin of us all’ (Isaiah 53:6)
Aimed at Jewish readers
Joseph’s viewpoint – connected to King David and fulfillment of Old Testament prophets – see above
Jesus has come into the world for all peoples – first visitors Wise Men ‘from the East’
Luke’s Gospel Gentiles: non-Jews

Jesus has universal significance ‘a light to lighten the Gentiles’

Luke was probably Paul’s friend ‘the doctor’, and the only non-Jewish writer in the New Testament
Luke’s book is aimed at Gentiles and has a Greek emphasis – when he quotes from the Old Testament he uses
a Greek translation, the Septuagint.
From Mary’s viewpoint – doesn’t emphasis link to David.
Focuses on Jesus’ help of the poor and underprivileged – shepherds are the first to visit Jesus, Mary and
Joseph’s poverty
The prominence of John the Baptist demonstrates the connection between Jesus and the
Jewish religion – despite its Jewish flavour Luke is convinced Jesus is the fulfilment of the
Old Testament revelation of God. John the Baptist represents the last of the Old
Testament prophets, but he is no match for Jesus.
The gist of Luke is different – the driving force of his narrative seems to be the work of the
Holy Spirit. Ezekiel speaks of an age to come when God will “pour out my spirit upon all
flesh” – an age of the Messiah. So the angel tells Mary “the Holy Spirit will come upon

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you” (Luke 1:35), and Simeon, filled with the Holy Spirit, starts to prophesy (Luke 2:27) of one who will be a
“light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel”.
The second set of observations we can make involve the echoes with the Old Testament. In the table below,
Mary’s Magnificat in Luke is compared with Hannah’s song of praise in 1 Samuel 2:1-10.
Both tell of a mighty and yet merciful God who acts in history to save his people. This is the God of promise
and fulfilment: the hungry he fills with good things, says Mary, whilst Hannah praises the God who gives so
much that ‘the hungry no longer have to toil’. They speak of a new age of justice and plenty, who abases the
proud but lifts up the humble. In this way the writer of Luke’s gospel stresses the links between the former
times and the new age of the Messiah.
Finally, we can identify specific commentary made by the writers of the gospels.
When Luke speaks of Simeon ‘moved by the Holy Spirit’ this is authorial comment that has been added to the
bare bones of the narrative. When Matthew speaks of the ‘Scriptures being fulfilled’, he is also adding his own
gloss on the story. By identifying authorial comment, the redaction critic tries to reconstruct the theology of
the author.
Key Quotes:

‘Redaction Criticism suggests that what we have in the gospels are four portraits of Jesus which were written to
influence a particular group of readers/hearers.’ –Steve Moyise (75)

‘The term redaction in Gospel criticism describes the editorial work carried out by the evangelists on their sources when
they composed the Gospels’ – Stephen S. Smalley1

Redaction criticism should not be used simply to imply that the Gospel writers cannot be trusted. This
view must be balanced with an understanding that although they were primarily concerned with
theological matters, they were also writing history.

2. How does redaction criticism explain three key differences between Matthew and Luke’s accounts
of Jesus’ birth?

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Exam skills
Imagine you have a question to answer: ‘Explain redaction criticism’
Building Analytical Writing

Notice this is not asking us to evaluate redaction criticism. Evaluation requires us to think of strengths
and weaknesses, or problems with the use of redaction criticism.
To explain is, in one sense, to break down an argument or an idea into its component parts. So when we
analyse an idea we can do a number of things: Pushing/extending we make a point and then push or
extend the point

We make a point and then illustrate it with some specific, relevant examples.
Illustrating
We make a point and then contrast the point with another, different idea, to sharpen the
Contrasting
point.

3. Read the following paragraph.

Redaction criticism emerged as part of the quest for the historical Jesus – indeed, it was a critique of this
quest because redaction critics pointed out that history and theology are intertwined and inseparable.
For example, where Matthew stresses that the scriptures are fulfilled, he takes many examples in
his opening chapter of the genealogy of Jesus which stretches back to Adam.
The point is not whether Adam existed (as a historical fact) but that the author of Matthew is trying to
stress how Scriptural prophecy has been fulfilled in Jesus as a descendant both of David and of Adam.
Matthew’s gospel, we might conclude, is written for a Jewish audience who needed to be convinced that
this Messiah (the chosen one of God) is the one foretold by prophets of old, and who stands
in the line of the great Jewish kings of old, like David. And Solomon. In contrast with those who ask
“what is the historical basis for the Jesus story’, redaction critics ask ‘what is the meaning and purpose
of the Jesus story’. History, to the redaction critic, is lost in the mists of theological time.

Christianity
4. Building Analytical Writing

Taking three coloured highlighters, (orange, green and red, for example) highlight a part of sentence
that
a. extends a point (orange)
b. contrasts a point with something else (red)
c. illustrates a point with an example (green)

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The application of the birth narratives to the doctrine of the incarnation (substantial presence and the
kenotic model)

Incarnation is literally ‘becoming flesh’

The doctrine expresses the belief that Jesus was fully human and fully divine i.e. he was God come to
earth as a human being. As the Gospel according to John puts it (1:14),’the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the
Father’.

 Divine characteristics – existed from the beginning, defeated death (link to crucifixion and
resurrection), ascended and ever-reigning with God
 Human characteristics – born of flesh and blood, learned to walk and talk, ate and drank, slept
experienced temptation, disappointment, weakness etc.
 Human and divine nature is equally important. To emphasise one at the expense of the other is
bound to lead to heresy.
 The two natures, human and divine, were united in one person of Jesus. This is known as the
‘hypostatic union’.

The doctrine of incarnation does not see Jesus as half human, half God. Rather, it states that Jesus is
fully God and fully human.

 He is fully God because he is believed to have existed from the beginning with God, and was
God. His appearance here on earth was only a brief period in this existence, After his
resurrection, he is believed to have returned to his Father, with whom he now reigns for
evermore.
 He is fully human because he was a man made flesh and blood, born as any other person is born;
he was a helpless baby; he had to learn to walk and talk, like every other child (Luke 2:40-52); he
ate and slept and drank; he experienced hunger, weakness, temptation and disappointment; he
died, like all human beings do.

The Nicene Creed (formulated by 325 CE at the First Council of Nicea), the Council of Ephesus in 431
and the Council of Chalcedon in 451 contain the most widely accepted definitions of incarnation and
the nature of Jesus the Church.
‘We believe . . . in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Creed means belief and is a concise, formal and
begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all authorised summary of Christian belief and
the worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of teaching. There are various creeds notably the
Very God, begotten not made, being of one substance Apostles’ Creed (c. 390) and Nicene Creed (c. 374)
with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who,
Incarnation refers to God as Word (the second
for our sake and for our salvation, came down from person of the Trinity) becoming fully human in the
Heaven. And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the person of Jesus Christ. It means becoming flesh
Virgin Mary, and was made man.’

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The incarnation as kenosis
Kenosis means ‘self-emptying’ and the gospel of Luke stresses the humanity and the humility of Jesus.
Not only is he born of a woman, but he is also baptised and then presented back to God in the Temple.
Kenosis seeks to explain something Paul mentions in Philippians 2:5-11. St Paul refers to Jesus ‘humbling
himself and taking the form of a servant’ and then ‘emptying himself and becoming obedient to death’.
This idea of Jesus “emptying himself” is referred to as the Kenotic model.
The question arises as to what exactly Jesus emptied himself of (or poured out). At one time or another
just about all possible combinations of what is emptied (or poured out) have been suggested, whilst at
the same time trying to maintain that Jesus was both fully God and fully man. The weight of emphasis
has swayed through the centuries between the human side of Jesus and the divine side.
The historical discussion has centred much more on Jesus emptying himself of the divine attributes,
especially of omnipotence and omniscience whilst retaining the moral attributes (such as righteousness
and holiness). However, this raises problems about the attribute of immutability if Jesus no longer had
certain divine attributes. One popular way out of the conundrum is to argue for the idea of divine self-
limitation – God in Jesus chose to stand alongside humanity in their weakness.
Thomas Aquinas saw this limitation as more of an ethical move by Jesus. If Christ was “poured out like
water” (Ps. 21. 15), this “emptying of Himself whereby the Invisible made Himself visible, was a bending
down of mercy, not a fall from power.” (Thomas Aquinas, Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers Vol 1
S5b, Section 1, Part 2). Hence, Christ’s moral perfection is portrayed in this narrative of humility.
Luke’s Gospel and kenosis
At the start of the gospel it is Mary’s response to the angel’s news that captures the humility and
obedience of kenosis. “Here am I the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word.”
(1:38). Secondly, the very message Mary relates to is a kenotic message in which the rich are
emptied and the poor filled with good things. It echoes the message Jesus himself is given – that he will
give ‘recovery of sight to the blind’ (4:18). The rich who are full of themselves need to be emptied and
those who are empty (in their bellies and in their attitudes) will be filled. So the roles are reversed in
much the same way as Jesus, the glorious divine one, chooses to reverse his own role and become the
obedient servant.

Matthew and substantial presence

The theme of presence in Matthew is a strong one: it appears at the beginning, middle and end of the
gospel. Jesus is present with his people and God is somehow present through Jesus.
So at the beginning of the gospel the angel declares; “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us)”. (Matthew 1:23, NIV). Jesus is
present with his people as an extension of his very name and his very essence – he is by nature, God-
with-us, Immanuel. Even though he has “emptied himself” by being born in human likeness and taken
the form of a servant, he is fully human whilst maintaining substantial presence as fully divine. In the
incarnation it is claimed that Jesus as fully human and fully God is an objective reality and not merely
personal to the believer. Roman Catholics in particular argue that Jesus is present in a very special way
(“real presence”) when Christians celebrate the Eucharist or Holy Communion. However, the issue at the
heart of a long-standing theological controversy is this: in what form and in what way is Jesus present in
the Eucharist itself? Is his form just spiritual or is it substantial (are the bread and wine literally
transformed into flesh and blood)?

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Conclusions
The synoptic gospels, so called because they share a common source, proclaim a Jesus figure with
distinctive traits. The theological message is conveyed by arrangement of source material and by added
comment. The picture thus portrayed is similar and yet different – using common sources, but working
and crafting them. Luke sees the divine purpose worked out by empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The
spirit comes upon Mary, Zecharaiah and Simeon in the opening narrative. The message seems to be one
of a special one emptying himself in obedience and humility. Matthew’s gospel seems to be set in a
Jewish context and lays greater stress on the fulfilment of Jewish prophecy. Some of the great themes of
Isaiah, Malachi and Daniel, three great Old Testament prophets, are worked out by the author – of the
Holy God coming to dwell among his people as a divine presence. Jesus is Immanuel, God-with us, and
yet also King of the Jews. He has come to shepherd his people. His presence is worked out with
miraculous signs and also by the gift of the communion gathering of the new community.

Discussion quotes
1. “Christ is primarily a divine subject. The man is the vehicle not just of divine action in the world, but of
divine substantial and particular presence. He is Emmanuel – God with us. In this sense his acts are
God’s acts.“ Brian Hebblethwaite, The Incarnation, Collected Essays in Christology page 159
2. “That the birth narratives cannot be accepted as historical as they stand would be all but universally
conceded”. David Brown, the Trinity page 124
5. Key terms – add definitions
Harmonisation

Redaction

Incarnation

Nicene Creed

Substantial presence

Kenotic model

Prophecy

Kergyma

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AO1 Exam skills: A writing frame
6. Examine the differences between Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts of Jesus’ birth.
The accounts of Jesus’ birth in Matthew and Luke are known as . . .

Matthew focuses on . . .

Luke focuses on . . .

There are several examples of differences in their accounts. They include . . .

Luke’s chronology (timeline) is particularly suspect because . . .

It is not, however, impossible to harmonise the accounts by suggesting . . .

Redaction critics argue that the differences in the accounts may be attributed to . . .

In conclusion,
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Theme 1 Jesus – His birth AO2

 The extent to which the birth narratives provide insight into the doctrine of the incarnation.
 The relative importance of redaction criticism for understanding the biblical birth narratives.

Marking scheme – for a top Band 5 answer examiners are looking for:

 Confident critical analysis and perceptive evaluation of the issue

 Successfully identify and thoroughly address the issues raised by the question set
 Thorough, sustained and clear views are given, supported by extensive, detailed reasoning
and/or evidence
 The views of scholars/schools of thought are used extensively, appropriately and in context
 Confident and perceptive analysis of the nature of connections between the various elements of
the approaches studied
 Specialist language and vocabulary in context

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Read the sample answer and use it, the Bible sections and booklet 1 to answer the following questions.
1. The extent to which the birth narratives provide insight into the doctrine of the incarnation.

a. What is insight?

b. How can insight be measured?

c. What does Matthew’s account focus on? Add Septuagint

d. Why might the virgin birth be seen as a myth?

e. What did Bultmann say about the birth narratives?

f. Why do other Christians accept the virgin birth accounts?

g. How can Luke be used to support this view?

h. What is the key theme in the birth narratives and how does it help with accepting the virgin
birth?

i. What conclusion can you form? Answer the question.

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15
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2. The relative importance of redaction criticism for understanding the biblical birth narratives.

a. What is redaction criticism?

b. What arguments can be used to support redaction criticism?

I. Gospel writers as individuals

II. Author’s purpose e.g.

III. Gospels as theology.

c. How can redaction criticism be challenged?

I. Lack of evidence

II. Early Church

d. How could we argue that redaction criticism has some uses – if approached with caution.

I. Assess accuracy or redactor

II. Value

III. Objectivity of redactor

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Create your own answer
‘To claim that Jesus was both God and man makes no sense at all.’ Evaluate this view.

The issue for debate here is the reasonableness or otherwise of the doctrine of the incarnation, which
asserts that. . .

The contention would be accepted by Jews and Muslims, and some Christian denominations such as
Unitarians, on the grounds that. . .

It would, however, be rejected by most mainstream Christian traditions on the grounds that. . .

In conclusion,

This view is based on . . .

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 Theme 1 B Jesus – his resurrection

The views of Rudolf Bultmann and N.T. Wright on the relation of the resurrection event to history;
interpretation and application to the understanding of death, the soul, resurrected body and the
afterlife, with reference to Matthew 10:28; John 20-21; Corinthians 15; Philippians 1:21-24.

Matt 10:28 ‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the
One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.’ Page 1082

John 20 Page 1205 The Empty Tomb

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the
tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came
running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have
taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran
Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did
not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips
of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still
lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first,
also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to
rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene 11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent
over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at
the head and the other at the foot.
13
They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I
don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but
she did not realise that it was Jesus.
15
He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the
gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get
him.”
16
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means
“Teacher”).
17
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers
and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that
he had said these things to her.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were
together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and
said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were
overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

19
21
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he
breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are
forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus Appears to Thomas 24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of

the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other
disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger
where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with
them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
27
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my
side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you
have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.
31
But these are written that you may believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by
believing you may have life in his name.

Analysis of the Resurrection in John 20

Chiasm – a style of writing that repeats similar ideas in reverse sequence (ABCBA).

In the first and last, the risen Jesus does not appear, but people come to believe in the resurrection on
the basis of evidence (the linen wrapping in 20:8 and the testimony of others in 20:23). In the second
and fourth episodes, Jesus appears to individuals who fail to recognise him. At the centre of the Chiasm,
he imparts the Holy Spirit to the disciples.

 John, the beloved disciple, ‘saw and believed’ (20:8)

 Mary comes to believe when she hears Jesus call her name (20:16)
 The disciples recognise Jesus, and receive the Holy Spirit (20:22)
 Thomas believes when he is allowed to touch Jesus’ wounds (20:28)
 John says that those who read this evidence will believe (20:31)

John and Peter see and believe but do not yet understand the scripture – that Jesus must rise from the
dead – they see the rolls of linen and empty tomb – but do not understand the resurrection.

Mary Magdalene – does not initially recognise Jesus (link to John 21:4). Suggesting there had been some
change in his resurrected body. This idea is supported by John 20:19-21, the resurrected Jesus was able
to move through locked doors and the disciples do not seem to recognise him until he shows them his
wounds.

Jesus gives Mary a message for the apostles – she becomes ‘an apostle to the apostles’. Jesus tells her ‘I
am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’. This is good news for the
apostles as they know Jesus promised to send them the Holy Spirit.

20
Jesus is said to have ‘breathed on’ the disciples, this is the same verb that is used in Genesis 2:7 when
God created man from dust. Jesus said ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’. It implies the beginning of a new
creation – the Christian Church.

Some questions whether this is the same event as Acts 2:1-13 when the Holy Spirit descended on the
disciples. However, this is not supported by the rest of the New Testament. The disciples do not seen
inspired – they go back to fishing – but it could mark the start of the church’s mission.

Jesus then develops this commission – God now lives in the disciples in the person of the Holy Spirit –
they must go out and carry on God’s work. The world must choose for or against Jesus. Those who
believe will have their sins forgiven; those who refuse will be condemned.

Thomas was not present when Jesus first appeared to the disciples – he does not believe their accounts.
Jesus then appears when Thomas is present, Thomas feels the wounds and believes.

John ends the chapter – his purpose in writing the Gospel is to enable people to believe without having
seen, and thus to experience the blessedness that comes through faith.

1. What is chiasm?

2. Write your own very brief summary of the key events in John 20.
I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII. John ends the chapter – blessedness through f

21
John 21 Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish

21 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee.[c] It happened this way: 2 Simon
Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus[d]), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two
other disciples were together. 3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go
with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
5
He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they
answered.
6
He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find
some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of
the large number of fish.
7
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him
say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into
the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far
from shore, about a hundred yards.[e] 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish
on it, and some bread.
10
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter climbed back into
the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was
not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who
are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the
same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised
from the dead.

Jesus Reinstates Peter

15
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more
than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17
The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all
things; you know that I love you.”

22
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and
went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will
dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by
which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
20
Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who
had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) 21 When
Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”
22
Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”
23
Because of this, the rumour spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did
not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to
you?”
24
This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his
testimony is true.
25
Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the
whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

3. Analysis of the Resurrection in John 21 – read the sections and write a very brief summary.
a. Jesus appears to the disciples by the Sea of Galilee (1-14)

b. Jesus commissions Peter to shepherd his people (21:15-23)

There is a tradition in Christianity that Peter was crucified upside down in 67CE – So these words may
not be the true words of Jesus. As John’s Gospel was not written until late in the 1 st Century CE, the
author would already know how Peter died.

c. John’s testimony confirmed

It might not actually have been written by John himself, it could have been a disciple based on John’s
eyewitness accounts.

23
24
I Corinthians 15 Page 1276 The Resurrection of Christ

15 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received
and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I
preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and
that he appeared to Cephas,[b] and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five
hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have
fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me
also, as to one abnormally born.

4. Link to Acts 9 - St Paul claimed Jesus appeared to him on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus to
persecute Christians in that city.
9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I
persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not
without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
11
Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

The Resurrection of the Dead

12
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is
no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been
raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than
that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised
Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not
raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you
are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we
have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
5. How does St Paul attempt to show that Christian believers will be resurrected?

20
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For
since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in
Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he
comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God
the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has
put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has put
everything under his feet.”[c] Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that
this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the
Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

6. What does St Paul mean by first fruits?

29
Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not
raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every

25
hour? 31 I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I
fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not
raised,

“Let us eat and drink,

for tomorrow we die.”[d]
33
Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”[e] 34 Come back to your senses as you
ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.

The Resurrection Body

35
But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How
foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body
that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has
determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one
kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies
and there are earthly bodies; but the splendour of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendour of
the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendour, the moon another and the stars
another; and star differs from star in splendour.
42
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised
imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a
living being”[f]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and
after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As
was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those
who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we[g] bear the
image of the heavenly man.
50
I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does
the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all
be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the
dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with
the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the
imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has
been swallowed up in victory.”[h]
55
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”[i]
56
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves
fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.

26
 7. How does St Paul describe the resurrected body?

8. What evidence have we already read to support the view that that resurrected body will be different?

e.g. Mary Magdalene, disciples, john 20:19

9. St Paul does not explain: How the body will change, when the change will occur – at an individual’s death or
collectively at the end of time, if everyone will be resurrected or only believers.

He does explain that both the body and soul will be resurrected.

Philippians 1:21-24

‘For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful
labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and
be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.’ Page
1302

10. Explain the highlighted points – What is St Paul saying to the Philippians about life after death?

27
Rudolf Bultmann – not a physical resurrection

Summary based on - Bultmann, Rudolf et al. (1953), Kerygma and Myth: A Theological Debate (SPCK)
http://www.religion.emory.edu/faculty/robbins/Pdfs/BultmannNTMyth.pdf]

Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976) was a German theologian. His system of Demythologising is the process by
‘demythologizing' the New Testament has aroused both worldwide which ancient myths or metaphors
support and fierce debate among theologians. used to express deep religious and
philosophical experiences of the
Bultmann wanted to distinguish between historical reality and non- world are stripped of their imagery
historical `truth as received by faith', to rediscover the earliest roots of (which as falsely been treated in
Christianity before it became absorbed and adapted by Jewish and objective factual terms) to recover
Greek culture. Jesus’ life, preaching and crucifixion could be accepted their original existential experience.
as being historical. However, the various miracles and ultimate 11. What does the verb
resurrection had to be interpreted as myth. The `how?' and `why?' of demythologise mean?
Jesus' life and death were not important. Although the historical
details of Jesus’ life were interesting, they are not the basis of faith.

Bultmann saw the key salvation event as Jesus’ death. He did not see
in the death of Jesus a sacrifice or atonement, but the liberating
judgment of God on all human selfishness. To believe in the cross means surrendering to its security and
to live from then on by the grace of God and his forgiveness. This means dying to oneself and to the
world and so appropriating the cross of Christ for oneself. This is personal resurrection.

Perhaps Bultmann is most famous for his article on `Demythologization' which appeared in 1941. He
maintains that the story of salvation as presented in the New Testament is myth. It is through myth that
the `other-worldly-divine' is expressed in `this-worldly-human' terms. The process of
‘demythologization’ required a striping away of the husk of myth to reveal the kernel of kerygma
(teaching). Today it must be reinterpreted to make it meaningful for people today.

 Bultmann defines a ‘myth’ as the ‘the report of an event or occurrence in which supernatural,
superhuman powers or persons are at work’.
 It is a way in which people attempt:
To explain the world in which they live and their existence in it;
To explain the divine in human terms
 An example is the ancient belief in a ‘three-tiered universe’, where the earth was a sphere, with
Heaven above and Hell below.
 Jesus’ virgin birth and resurrection are classified as myths.
 Since new Testament writers use the mythological terminology of their time, it is impossible for
modern readers to believe their accounts without discarding all modern intellect and knowledge.
 Bultmann therefore attempts to interpret the New Testament in such a way that changes its
‘mythological’ flavour but retains its meaning.
The resurrection, Bultmann argues, was not a historical event. It is a myth, a story designed to sustain
faith. He accepts that the earliest disciples believed it was true. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 even tried to
prove it. One cannot, however, expect scientifically minded modern readers to believe in the
resurrection of a corpse.

28
Bultmann’s position may be summarised as follows:

 Jesus is the Son of God, not in a literal sense, but in the sense that he is the expression of God.
What God had to say he initiated in Jesus
 Christians do not need to believe in the resurrection of Jesus’ physical body. Faith is better than
evidence
 Modern Christians cannot accept the resurrection with integrity because:
 It can never be proved;
 Even if it could be proved it could not in itself give meaning to the event of crucifixion.
 The resurrection in its demythologised form, is seen as the realisation that the cross of Christ was
not a defeat but a victory. The disciples suddenly realised that when he suffered death, Jesus was
already the Son of God. Therefore, his death by itself was a victory over the power of death. The
Lord of Life had given himself over to death and had thereby conquered it.
 Thus, the crucifixion of Jesus contained the resurrection within it. There was no second historical
event.
 The victory comes through the cross. Faith in the resurrection is really the same thing as faith in
the saving efficacy of the cross.
 Faith in the saving efficacy of the cross comes through faith ‘in the word of preaching’.
 The preaching originates from that rise of belief in the disciples
 Easter is thus about the arising, not of Jesus, but of the faith of the early church.
 People receive illumination through preaching, not through any historical resurrection event.
 The resurrection takes place within individuals as they hear the word of preaching and
experience the rise of faith.
Bultmann is influential but NOT widely respected in biblical scholarship circles any longer. He kind of
'threw the baby out with the bath water' in his demythologising.
12. How does Bultmann interpret the resurrection?

For discussion – Do you think Bultmann’s views are remotely compatible with the views of not just early
Christians (including those who were martyred for their belief in Resurrection) but the majority of

29
Christians in the past 2000 years. It's a rationalist modern viewpoint that 99% of Christians would not
recognise...so how legitimate can Bultmann's views claim to be?

N.T.Wright - a leading English New Testament scholar and former Bishop of Durham
‘The best historical explanation is the one which inevitably raises all kinds of theological questions: the
tomb was indeed empty, and Jesus was indeed seen alive, because he was truly raised from the dead.’
Wright claimed the belief in the physical resurrection is the only
way to explain the development of the early church – Jesus had
to have bodily resurrected or his early followers would not have
seen him as the Messiah. They would have seen him as a great
teacher or leader – but would not have continued to follow his
teachings and take the huge risk of spreading his ideas around
the Pagan world of the Roman Empire.
He is basically arguing that the Resurrection was some kind of
real event and this radically new idea is crucial in Christian
belief, it has very limited roots in Greek thought, varied roots
from Judaism, but in some ways Resurrection and the way it's
presented by early Christians is a new idea...it's newness leads
to a certain ambiguity and some differences of opinion.
However there is clear solid unanimous belief in actual bodily
Resurrection and an actual 'event' that precipitated that unshakable belief.

Type in this link and watch the six minute video on Youtube – there are
other useful videos to watch too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVhgAiGihoA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwJlpzhYbgc

Greek and Jewish belief about life after death and resurrection.
Greek thought: There is no evidence of belief in a bodily resurrection in Greek philosophy. For Homer
the place of the dead, Hades, is a place of shadows. Plato held a belief in the immortality of the soul but
absolutely not the idea of a body being important, nor of an afterlife in this world. In the play Euripides,
Hercules rescues Alcetis from the god of death, but the context is mythology.
Jewish thought: There is little in the Old Testament about resurrection and what there is lacks clarity.
The place of the dead is Sheol, which is very similar to Homer’s Hades: people are asleep there and to
wake them is dangerous and forbidden. Some Psalms express hope in an afterlife (e.g. Psalm 73) based
on God’s love for us in the present, which the psalmist supposes will continue into the future. In Isaiah
26 and Ezekiel 37 resurrection is the hope of the whole nation and will happen for all God’s people at
the same time. Daniel 12 can be interpreted as astral resurrection. Hosea 6 may be the earliest
statement of a belief in bodily resurrection. In general, unlike the dualistic Greeks, Jews believed in a
physical resurrection but did not agree on whether this body would be similar or different to the one in
the former life. In post-biblical Judaism a belief in resurrection did not immediately follow death but
30
came about after an interim period after which the death of the body would be reversed. In this
instance, resurrection means the undoing of death. The spectrum of belief runs from the Sadducees
who deny resurrection altogether, to the Pharisees who insist upon it, to the philosopher Philo of
Alexandria’s Platonic belief in the survival of the disembodied soul. Some who believed in resurrection
also believed in the coming of the Messiah who would defeat God’s enemies and establish God’s rule on
earth. The texts dealing with bodily resurrection seem to have been popular in the time of Jesus. This
notion of resurrection, he argues, was not synonymous with ‘life after death’ but ‘life AFTER “life after
death”’ – that is, a newly embodied life after a period of being bodily dead.
It was from this background that the early Christians emerged, saying two things:

 Jesus was and is the Messiah

 This is proved because he has been raised from the dead.
Early Christian belief about life after death and resurrection.
Early Christian views about life after death belong within the Jewish spectrum of belief, rather than the
Greek, but also distinctive. Almost all early Christians put their hope in a bodily resurrection, as opposed
to the disagreements in Judaism. Paul puts some Corinthian Christians straight who deny the future
resurrection (1 Cor. 15:12) and two are referred to who say the resurrection has already happened (2
Tim. 2:18) but they stand out as exceptionally unusual. This emphasis on resurrection is much more
focussed than in Judaism. Here it is an act of new creation. It will not be a simple return to the same sort
of body as before, nor will it be disembodied bliss. It will involve the gist of a new body with different
properties. The new identity is kept safe with God but at eh moment of resurrection it will be brought
from heaven to earth – which itself will be renewed. Resurrection is split into two phases – first the
Messiah, then all people when he comes again. Just as Jews spoke of an interim period before
resurrection, Christians spoke of people being ‘asleep in Christ’ (1 Cor. 15:18).
The reason for early Christian belief, and the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection.
The early Christians believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Yet Jesus had not done what the messiah was
supposed to do: defeated Israel’s enemies, restored the Temple or established God’s reign in the world.
There had been other failed Messiahs - Judas the Galilean in 6 CE, Simon bar-Glora in 70 CE, bar Kochbar
in 135 CE but after their deaths, the first task of their followers, who tried to carry on their work, was to
find another Messiah. The early Christians held onto their belief that Jesus was the Messiah because:

 They claimed that Jesus was bodily raised from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion
 Other Jews had died promising resurrection (2 Maccabees 7 etc.). Their followers believed that
they would be raised from the dead, but no-one claimed that they had been, for the obvious
reason that they hadn’t.
 It is clear that the Gospel accounts of the resurrection are about an event which happened at
some interval after Jesus’ death.
 It is not simply a way of talking about him ‘going to heaven when he died’. Jesus was not
‘resurrected to heaven’. It was 40 days after his resurrection that he ascended to heaven.
 In the Gospel narratives, we find that Jesus’ body is not merely a ‘spiritual’ presence, nor is it
merely resuscitated; it is transformed.

31
  In John’s Gospel Jesus invites the disciples to touch him to see that he is a real human being. At
the same time, he appears and disappears, sometimes through locked doors… John shows that
Jesus’s body is now significantly different, with new properties.
Conclusion:
Theories that reject the resurrection may be countered as follows:
(i) Jesus somehow survived the crucifixion. This is countered by the fact that Romans knew how
to kill people!
(ii) The tomb was empty but nothing else happened. Faced with an empty tomb and no other
evidence, the disciples would have assumed that Jesus’ body had been stolen, not that it had
been resurrected.
(iii) The disciples simply had visions of Jesus. Visions of someone recently dead are well known
but do not lead people to believe that they have risen from the dead.
 We must therefore conclude that the tomb, previously housing a dead Jesus, was empty, and
that his followers met someone they were convinced was this same Jesus, bodily alive, though in
a new transformed fashion.
 We know what conclusions the disciples drew, but they were cautious. Thomas waited before
believing (John 20:26) and in Matthew 28:17 ‘some doubted’.
 All other historical explanations for the origins of Christianity are less convincing than that Jesus
really did rise from the dead
 This is why the early Christians declared him to be the Son of God.
13. Consider each of the following conclusions and collect evidence to support each argument. Select the
one you are most convinced by and explain why. Select the one you are least convinced by and explain
why.
a. The Gospel accounts of the resurrection are totally unreliable.
b. The Gospel accounts of the resurrection are the work of the early church.
c. The Gospel accounts of the resurrection are reliable, eye-witness accounts.

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 1. Greek and Jewish belief about life after
death and resurrection
Greek thought
Jewish thought – inc. Pharisees
The Messiah dying and being bodily resurrected to
eternal life was completely unexpected in Jewish
theology, and therefore would not have been
fabricated. In Judaism, when people die, they stay
dead. At the most, they might re-appear as
apparitions, or be resuscitated to life for a while, but
then die again later
3. The reason for early Christian belief, and
the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection
2. Early Christian belief about life after death
and resurrection
4. Conclusion
Theories that reject the resurrection can be
countered as follows:
i. Jesus somehow survived the crucifixion
This can be discounted. Roman soldiers knew
how to kill people.
ii. The tomb was empty, but nothing else
happened.
Faced with an empty tomb, and no other
evidence, the disciples would have assumed that
Jesus’ body had been stolen, not that it had been
resurrected.
iii. The disciples simply had visions of
Jesus
Visions of someone recently dead are well
known, but do not cause people to claim that the
departed person has been raised from the dead.
 Therefore the tomb that had housed a
dead Jesu was empty and his followers
met someone they were convinced was
this same Jesus, bodily alive in a new
transformed body.
 We know what conclusions the disciples
drew but they were cautious. Thomas
waited before believing and some
doubted.
 All other historical explanations for the
origins of Christianity are less convincing
than that Jesus really did rise from the
dead.
 This is why the early Christians declared
him to be the ‘Son of God’.
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Theme 1 B Jesus – his resurrection AO2
1. The nature of the resurrected body.
2. The historical reliability of the resurrection.

Essay planning and prep - The nature of the resurrected body.

a. Explain St Paul’s ideas about the resurrected body.

b. Gospel and other New Testament accounts of the resurrected Jesus.

c. Irenaeus’ ideas.

d. Roman Catholic ideas

e. General Christian ideas.

f. Are there any alternative views?

g. Which view is most convincing?

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 2. The historical reliability of the resurrection.

Key issues – how reliable is John 20-21?

Issue - explain Not reliable - evaluate Reliable

Differences in Gospel accounts

Structure of John’s resurrection Problem with sophisticated

account inc. Chiasm literary device

John 21 – disciples fishing in Answers to the problems in

Galilee John -

Conclusion

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 Theme 1 C
The Bible as a source of wisdom and authority in daily life:
AO1 The ways in which the Bible is considered authoritative:
1. as a source of moral advice (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Luke 6:36-37);
2. as a guide to living (Psalm 119:9-16; Psalm 119:105-112);
3. as teaching on the meaning and purpose of life (Genesis 1:26-28; Ecclesiastes 9:5-9)
4. as a source of comfort and encouragement (Psalm 46:1-3; Matthew 6:25).
AO2

 The relative value of the Bible as teaching on the meaning and purpose of life.
 The extent to which the Psalms studied offer a guide to living for Christians.
What is the Christian Bible?
The English word ‘bible’ comes from the Greek words ta biblia: ‘the books’. The Christian Bible is a
collection of sacred books bound together in two volumes known as the Old Testament and the New
Testament.
The Old Testament was written originally in Hebrew. It is the sacred scripture of the Jewish religion as
well as being sacred to Christians. Protestant Bibles have 39 Old Testament books, the same as in the
Hebrew Bible. Catholic and Orthodox Bibles have 46, because they include other books, known
collectively as the Apocrypha, which Protestants consider to be deuterocanonical (a second list of sacred
books considered to be genuine).
The Old Testament was written and edited by many authors over a period of many centuries. It tells the
story of God’s engagement with the people of Israel from the earliest times until their return to
Jerusalem from exile in Babylon in 538BCE. It is worth remembering it was the Bible used by Jesus.
Key quote ‘The New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New. (St
Augustine)
The New Testament was originally written in Greek. It was 27 books, each one focusing on Jesus. There
are:

a.

Gospels –

Acts –

Epistles -

Revelation -

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The Bible can be read in many ways: as great poetry, as a law book or a history book, or as a basis for
theological reflection. For Christians, however, its main aim is practical. The Gospel of John (20:31)
identified that aim as follows: ‘these (things) are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is
the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.’ Christians
believe that the Bible gives instruction on the meaning and purpose of life, and that it is both a guide to
everyday living and a source of comfort and encouragement.
1. The Bible as a source of moral advice (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Luke 6:36-37)

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 New International Version (NIV)

13
Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
14
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.

Luke 6:36-37 New International Version (NIV)

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Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Judging Others
37
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive,
and you will be forgiven.

1. What moral advice is given in Ecclesiastes and Luke 6?

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2. The Bible as a guide to living (Psalm 119:9-16; Psalm 119:105-112);
Psalm 119
How can a young person stay on the path of purity? 2. In pairs/threes use psalm 119 and the
By living according to your word. material on p.4 to compose a rousing sermon
10
I seek you with all my heart; to be preached to a group of young
do not let me stray from your commands. enthusiastic Christians about ‘how they
11
I have hidden your word in my heart should live their lives in 21st Century UK’.
that I might not sin against you.
12
Praise be to you, LORD;
teach me your decrees.
13
With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
14
I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
15
I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16
I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.

105
Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path.
106
I have taken an oath and confirmed it,
that I will follow your righteous laws.
107
I have suffered much;
preserve my life, LORD, according to your word.
108
Accept, LORD, the willing praise of my mouth,
and teach me your laws.
109
Though I constantly take my life in my hands,
I will not forget your law.
110
The wicked have set a snare for me,
but I have not strayed from your precepts.
111
Your statutes are my heritage forever;
they are the joy of my heart.
112
My heart is set on keeping your decrees
to the very end.[a]

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3. The Bible as teaching on the meaning and purpose of life (Genesis 1:26-28; Ecclesiastes 9:5-9)
ECCLESIASTES 9:5-9
The author of the book of wisdom known as Ecclesiastes was seeking to show that life apart from God
was futile, vain and meaningless – ‘vanity of vanities’ is the great refrain of the book. According to
tradition, the author was Solomon, the magnificent king of Israel. Who but Solomon would be in a
position to try out all that life has to offer, and then conclude that all of it was essentially unsatisfying?
Who else but Solomon had everything, yet ended his life urging people to seek God above all?

5 For the living know that they will die,

but the dead know nothing;
they have no further reward,
and even their name is forgotten.
6 Their love, their hate
and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
in anything that happens under the sun.
7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart,
for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white,
and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife,
whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given
you under the sun—all your meaningless days.
For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labour under the sun.
(Ecclesisastes 9:5-9, NIV).

Solomon’s initial approach to life seems gloomy and pessimistic. Death is the end and life is purposeless.
We stare at death and wonder what life is for. Then he seems to change his outlook. When we live with
the divine perspective, with an awareness of God and of meaning, then we can eat and drink with joy
and enthusiasm, and delight in relationships of men and women. The ironic tone of the final sentence –
that this is our toilsome labour – reminds us that our attitude to events is what defines how worthwhile
life is, not the events themselves. Ultimately, if God lives, my living in the present can be worthwhile. If
God lives, my having lived in the past can have real meaning.
3. According to Ecclesiastes what is the purpose of human life?

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 4. The Bible as a source of comfort and encouragement (Psalm 46:1-3; Matthew 6:25).
Angus Toplady, an eighteenth century Anglican priest, is supposed to have written the hymn Rock of
Ages on a playing card whilst sheltering from a storm in the Mendip Hills in 1776. It speaks of a refuge
and hiding place – ‘let me hide myself in thee’ which reflects exactly the idea in Psalm 46. And in 1872,
when a ship was sinking in the Bay of Biscay, a man who was saved was asked what the passengers were
doing when the ship went down. He said that the last he heard was “Rock of Ages,” sung in unison by
the doomed passengers.

1 God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
(Psalm 46:1-3, NIV).
Jesus’ words in Matthew also speak of comfort in times of stress and anxiety. Much of the stress of
modern living is induced by two features: our busyness and the proliferation of choices. But also in a
world where the Christian faith seems marginalised, we may also be anxious about jobs, our own
identity and the prospect of death. Can we find fulfilment if we are constantly worrying about life?
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body,
what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? (Matthew 6:25, NIV).
Christianity
The Bible, like all sacred texts, reads differently from the perspective of faith. Here personal application
becomes a pressing need and part of the life of devotion to God. But interpretation itself is not without
its problems. The Old Testament scholar Brevard Childs reminds us of the need to respect both the
historical context and the challenge for the modern reader who seeks to find ways that the ancient texts
addresses his or her own culture.
As an example of how one Christian believer uses Scripture, the Methodist founder John Wesley,
describes how in his evangelical tradition he aims to be ‘the man of one book’.
“I want to know one thing, the way to heaven—how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has
condescended to teach the way: for this very end he came from heaven. He hath written it down in a
book. O give me that book! …Let me be homo unius libri [a man of one book]. Here then I am, far from
the busy ways of men. I sit down alone: only God is here. In his presence I open, I read his Book; for this
end, to find the way to heaven.“ (Sermons, John Wesley)
But Wesley also recognised the lack of clarity that sometimes attends a reading of the text:
“Is there a doubt concerning the meaning of what I read? Does anything appear dark or intricate? …I
then search after and consider parallel passages of Scripture, “comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”
I meditate thereon, with all the attention and earnestness of which my mind is capable.” (John Wesley,
Sermons)
We might conclude that to read the Bible uncritically is to be in danger of pouring our own meaning into
it, of forcing it to produce guidance and structures it does not in reality contain. It is to make it reflect
our culture rather than to transform it.

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 4. Summarise how the Bible can comfort and encourage Christians using the images and
information below and p.6:

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f. Complete the AO1 task below

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AO2 Is the Bible a Reliable Moral Guide?
Source David Lose in the Huffington post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-lose/bible-reliable-moral-guide_b_1097800.html
“The Bible’s value, above all, is as a guide to lives. And we mean to all of our lives, whether one is
religious or not, whether one is Christian, Jewish, or from another religion or no religion.”
My reaction to what I’m sure they believed was a relatively innocuous sentence was as unexpected as it
was unbidden: Really?! Is the primary value of the Bible really as a moral guide? My mind went
immediately to the many and various offenses listed in the Bible that call for the death penalty: murder
and kidnapping, which perhaps shouldn’t surprise, but also adultery, homosexual practice, cursing a
parent, owning an animal that repeatedly attacks others, and being a “medium or wizard” — and all this
from only two chapters (Exodus 21 and Leviticus 20). And these, of course, are just capital offenses;
there are numerous others that call for losing various body parts or being expelled from the community.
To be sure, there are also many important and salutary laws that we might well heed today, including
caring for the most vulnerable, loving one’s neighbour, releasing the debt of those overwhelmed by
their obligations, always making provision for those who are poor, not taking vengeance on others,
planting and harvesting in a manner that today we would call “sustainable,” and not lending money in a
way that disadvantages the borrower — and all of those also from a small set of chapters. (Ex. 22-23,
Lev. 19, 25). Think how different our debates about health care, relief for those facing foreclosure,
agricultural policy and the regulation of banks would be if we consulted these passages.

Christianity
Notice, though, that the chapters from which the “good” laws come are disturbingly close to those
containing the “bad” ones. And that’s just the problem: the Bible seems regularly and simultaneously to
offer counsel that we deem both awful and excellent. In what way, then, can it serve as a reliable moral
guide? One approach to this question — the one followed by a majority of progressive Jewish and
Christian scholars — is to place these passages in their original context, explaining their “foreignness” so
that we can either 1) understand their highly contextual nature and thereby recognize that they do not
apply today or 2) re-appropriate and apply their more salutary content to our context. This approach, as
Friedman and Dolansky capably demonstrate, can be tremendously productive. But at times it falls
painfully short, for while it may be true that the verses calling homosexuality an abomination, for
instance, should be considered temporary and contextual, one needs to question whether this law (and
many others) was just at any time or under any circumstances.
What, then, are those who read the Bible to do? Shall we just pick and choose the laws and
commandments that appeal to us and disregard the others? Curiously, I’m tempted to answer a
qualified “yes.” I do so largely because I suspect the Bible was never intended to serve primarily as a
moral reference. Rather, I think that the Bible comes to us as a collection of confessions of faith of the
ancient Israelites and Christians about the nature and character of God and was intended to invite
readers into relationship with that God. From that relationship a commitment flows to leading a certain
kind of life. Theology, that is, precedes morality, as one’s view of God — angry or loving, judgmental or
gracious — greatly influences how one relates to neighbour and world.

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Question - “Theology precedes morality” - Discuss
Hints
David Lose argues there are contradictions within the Bible’s view of moral issues and some of the most
severe injunctions against certain types of behaviour (e.g. The abominations of Leviticus and the practice
of stoning adulterers etc.) come alongside other moral ideas we still accept (love your neighbour as
yourself -Leviticus 19:18) that none of them can be interpreted before we first have a view of the
character of God and our own social context. The confession of faith – the basic beliefs about what God
is like and how God acts in history, come before the moral code

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The problems of using the Bible as a source of wisdom and authority in daily life
Introduction / Key terms
Allegorical a means of interpretation of Scripture that looks for symbolic meaning significance in
parallels between the Old Testament and the New such as the exodus from Egypt as an allegory of the
Cross.
Authority the grounds for obedience to Scripture based on authorship and reliability
Hermeneutics the study of interpretation
Inspiration the breathing in of life to Scripture by the act of the Holy Spirit
Infallibility a doctrine developed in the United States that says that the
Bible is unambiguously trustworthy and true

Christianity
The Two Horizons of Hermeneutics
Hermeneutics is the study of biblical meaning and interpretation – from Hermes the messenger of the
Greek gods. However, there are two horizons of hermeneutics, the horizon of the author’s own time
some two thousand years ago and the horizon of our own time. So much has changed between the two
horizons, and so the issue becomes: how can the horizon of the bible address, encourage and advise us
in our own time? How can the bible possibly be a source of moral advice, or a source of comfort? How
do we escape captivity to our own cultural views and understandings?
Because of this, many see that the goal in interpreting the Bible is to fuse the two horizons whilst
respecting differences in both, and being able to bring our critical and philosophical judgement to bear
on each.

Christianity
Problem of the Bible as source of wisdom and authority
The Pontifical Biblical Commission of the Catholic Church expresses both the problem and the
goal:
A difficulty derives from Sacred Scripture itself: biblical writings were redacted at least nineteen hundred
years ago and belong to distant epochs in which life conditions were very different from those of today.
Many actual situations and problems were completely unknown in these writings and therefore one may
think that they can offer no appropriate answers to these problems.
Consequently even if the fundamental value of the bible as an inspired text is acknowledged some
people retain a strong sceptical attitude and maintain that Scripture is of no use for offering solutions to
the numerous problems of our times. Present humanity is confronted every day with delicate moral
problems continually presented by the sciences and by globalization; even convinced believers have the
impression that many of our past certainties have been annulled; just think about such themes as
violence, terrorism, war, immigration, distribution of wealth , respect for natural resources, life, work,
sexuality, genetic research, the family and community life.
Faced by such complex problems one is tempted to marginalize, totally or partially, Sacred Scripture. In
this case too, though for a variety of motives, the sacred text is laid aside and solutions to the grave and
urgent problems of today are sought elsewhere. (Pontifical Biblical Commission, 2006)

Christianity

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Activity:
g. Make a list of bullet points of the problems identified above of using the Bible as a source of
wisdom and authority in daily life.

h. Can you add further bullet points of your own?

(Some possible examples might include the emergence of the critical historical study of the Bible, the
emergence of philosophical objections to the idea of God acting in history in the way that Scripture
describes, and to the morality of aspects of the biblical account and developments in literary theory
that have raised new ways of thinking about what it means to read and interpret texts)

i. How far do you think the problems identified are actual problems to using the Bible as a source of
wisdom and authority in daily life?

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j. Read the essay – highlight in one colour any arguments that suggest the Bible contains valuable
teaching – in another colour highlight anything that doesn’t.
k. Write up an evaluative essay plan ‘The Bible provides valuable teaching on the meaning and
purpose of life’. Evaluate this view
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l. Read the essay – highlight in one colour any arguments that suggest the Psalms studied contain a
guide to living – in another colour highlight anything that doesn’t.
m. Write up an evaluative essay plan ‘The Psalms studied do not provide a useful guide to living’.
Evaluate this view.

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o.

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