REL2300 July 17th Christianity Part I Christianity Judaism and Christianity share many common elements Christianity grew out of Judaism Main difference is regarding Messiah o Christianity Messiah has already come o Judaism he is yet to come The Life and Teachings of Jesus What we know about the life of Jesus and his teaching is four Gospels They are considered in Christianity the basic sources Jesus was born in 4 B C E At the time Jesus was born Jerusalem was part of the Roman Empire o Romans might have ruled Jerusalem harshly At the time Jesus is born there were Judaic groups o The Sadducees kept up temple rituals o Pharisees very observant of Jewish laws The Jews waiting for Messiah foretold in books Isaiah Daniel Micah o Would bring new order based on the principles of justice and love Messiah means one who is anointed refers to ceremony of anointing a new king with olive oil Miraculous conception of Jesus took place in Nazareth was born in Bethlehem Was circumcised on eighth day according to Jewish tradition Probably attended synagogue school as a child Later as an adult he took up the profession of carpentry with his foster father Joseph Raised as a devout Jew Jesus accepted the sacred authority of the Law o Observed Sabbath and dietary laws o Well versed in the Hebrew Bible o Soft spoken o Appeals to common people speaks their language o Simple straightforward and occasionally very witty Surprisingly the four Gospels do not inform us anything about Jesus from the age of 16 to almost 26 o He is just out of sight One does not know what to speculate Jesus started preaching of the Kingdom of God in his twenties o Baptized by John the Baptist o Also formed the ministry After preaching for about four years arrested on the charge of public disturbance in Jerusalem dangerous The Sadducees who were in charge of religious matters considered him Form Roman Empire he was potentially a source of unrest Somehow the charge was changed to blasphemy and he was crucified at the age of thirty two 25 26 C E o Was seen after three days Two Great Commandments 1 Love God and love your neighbor 2 The end of the world is near and the new world is about to come meaning there would be new social and political reality where justice and love would prevail Four Gospels ALL WRITTEN IN GREEK Mark Matthew Luke John o Written in 65 70 C E o Written in 70 80 C E o Written in 75 85 C E o Written in 90 100 C E 1 Mark is the shortest and simple o From the point of view of history it is very valuable as it describes the o It speaks of Jesus as son of God and Messiah performed miracles and facts as they were speaks of his public life o Ends with account of Jesus empty tomb 2 Matthew is the most charming Gospel o Portrays Jesus as New Moses o It speaks of his birth death and resurrection o Traces his genealogy to David 3 Luke written for Greek audience o The Christianity for all and universal religion o He also traces Jesus genealogy to David 4 John Jesus is divine incarnation of God o Made visible in human form o Jesus was Messiah First three Gospels are called synoptic and John is called asynoptic Early Christianity Early Christian beliefs simple and dew Following Jesus resurrection disciples gathered Then the Spirit of God came upon them in form of fire and encouraged them to spread belief in Jesus as Messiah The early Christian belief consists of 1 Jesus is indeed the expected Messiah 2 These are the final days before coming of the new world order The early Christians were Jews living in Jerusalem The Christian Bible New Testament The New Testament Comprises following books 1 Four Gospels 2 The Acts of the Apostles 3 Epistles 4 Revelation The Acts of Apostles 85 C E It is maintained that book of Acts of Apostles is really second part of Gospel Luke The Gospel of Luke and book of Acts of Apostles sometimes referred as single world Luke Acts In these two books the parallels are drawn between Jesus and Paul In Luke Jesus is portrayed as moving toward his sacrifice in Jerusalem So does Paul makes his final journey to Rome for his sacrifice in Rome Here the impressive image of stone dropped in a pond that makes ever widening ripples is presented suggesting life of Jesus spreading widely The Epistles They can be divided in to two parts 1 Early Pauline Epistles o Genuine Pauline letters date 50 60 C E 2 Universal Epistles o Include Hebrews Timothy Titus Ephesians Colossians and others are debated Impressive images are also used in the Epistles Christian community is like solid building set on secure foundation o Church becomes the body of Christ etc Main focus of the Epistles is proper belief morality and church order Paul of Tarsus and The Epistles Letters Paul s original name was Saul Spread Christianity among non Jews Born as Pharisee educated in Greek system Roman citizen Initially opposed Christianity later experienced vision and becomes a staunch Christian 1 In Letters emphasizes faith in and acceptance of Jesus Christ by which right relationship with God established 2 Becomes Christian doctrine that salvation is possible only through faith in 3 He saw Jesus as a Messiah and manifestation of divinity and logos of God 4 He provides the ethics and morals as to how a Christian must live his life Jesus Christ which preexisted Revelation 100 C E It is written to early Christians not to give up true faith in spite of their harsh persecution Suffering would be overcome and good will conquer evil Images and symbols are used o Lamb is Jesus o Dragon and Seven Heads are Roman Empire o The number 666 mark of beast is Nero o The Christian Canon It took about 300 years before Christian Bible is made as canon that includes Hebrew Bible plus all the books of the New Testament The early Christians continued to read the Pentateuch Psalms to which were added the books of N T interpreting as that they fulfill and complete the Old Testament