Contributions to Early Christianity

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Contributions to Early Christianity
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• Greek Contributions
• 1. Greek Culture
• 2. Greek Language
• 3. Greek Philosophy and Education

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• Jewish Contributions
• 1. Concept of Monotheism
• 2. The Jewish synagogue
• 3. The Dispersion
• 4. Scripture
• 5. Essenes

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• Roman Contributions
• 1. Law and order
• 2. Cosmopolitan character
• 3. Roman roads and transportation
• 4. Roman qualities of character
• 5. Roman Religion

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A History of Jesus the Christ
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A Life of Jesus I. Birth Ancestry Luke goes
back to Adam in attempt to connect Jesus to all
of humanity Matthew goes back to the Davidic
line They do not agree!
7
II. Baptism Real history begins with the
baptism Thou Art My Son--beginning of ministry
and messianic consciousness Some say the Spirit
of God came upon Jesus at this time
8
III. The Temptation Experience What kind of
ministry will Jesus have? 1. A person of
authority--messianic acts 2. He overcame disease
and the demonic 3. Authority to deal with
sinners 4. Authority to redefine the law 5.
Entering the Kingdom
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6. Coming of the Kingdom a. Realized
Eschatology--C. H. Dodd--the kingdom is already
here--the church b. Consistent Eschatology--the
kingdom is coming in the future--Schweitzer
10
IV. The Parables of the Kingdom 1. Seed and
soil (Mt. 1318)--way Jesus words are preached
and accepted 2. Growing seed (Mark
426-29)--Gods kingdom will come without help of
humanity 3. Mustard seed (Mt. 11324-53 Mark
43-30)--begins small and becomes large
11
V. The Journey to Jerusalem John has 2
journeys-Synoptics only one--it occurs in final
week of Jesus ministry Luke 951--shows his
determination to go to Jerusalem--this passage
prepares for the climatic event of the cross
12
VI. Triumphal Entrance Using Zechariah 99 he
seems to consciously fulfills a prophecy of the
Messiah entering Jerusalem of a king
13
VIII. The Last Supper Two ways of
understanding 1. A solemn act--patterned after
Jewish Passover celebration instituted as a
memorial celebration of Jesus impending death 2.
A joyous celebration of fellowship, with focus
on the eschatological fulfillment climaxing in
the Kingdom of God
14
VII. The Temple incident This incident begins
his problems in Jerusalem--intentionally setting
himself up against the authorities he
prophesized that the temple will be destroyed
15
IX. Chronology of Holy Week Synoptics indicate
that the Last Supper took place on Thursday
evening--should have been 24 hours before the
Sabbath. John places it on the Day of
Preparation, one day before--none of the
essential elements of Passover seems to be
there--bitter herbs and recital of passover
stories
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Titles of Christ
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Jesus the Prophet
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• Threefold Ministry of ChristProphet-Priest-King
• First found in Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
• Assume recognition with Calvin
• Today terms are used to refer to the earthly and
  heavenly mission of Jesus

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• B. Jesus as Prophet is due to Deut 1815-19,
  which reads I will raise up for them the people
  of Israel a prophet like you from among their
  brethren, and I will put my words in his mouth,
  and he will speak to them all that I command him.
• 1. The prophet was to be a second Moses
• 2. Jesus seems to fulfill this role as he
  redefines the law for the new covenant
• 3. Some see the prophet as the suffering
  servant of Isaiah
• 4. Some see the prophet as an incarnation of
  the prophet Elijah or Enoch
• 5. Samaritans believed it referred to the
  reincarnation of Moses

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• C. Some see the prophet as John the Baptist
• D. Some contemporaries of Jesus saw him as a
  prophet
• 1. Jesus as a prophet among many, Luke
  7finds reference to a great prophet has come
• 2. The eschatological prophetElijah coming
  to life (Mark 615)
• E. Acclamation of crowd on Psalm Sunday may be
  interpreted as This is Jesus, the Prophet, From
  Nazareth of Galilee (Matt. 2111)

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1. Concept of Jesus as prophet disappeared with the
   disappearance of Jewish Christianity
2. We can say that Jesus was a prophet in that he
   fulfilled the role model of a prophet

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Suffering Servant
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• A. Jesus never uses the term, although he
  refers to the concept in his teaching
• B. The term is one of the oldest titles used by
  the first century Christians to define the person
  of Jesus
• C. Title is uniquely Jewish
• D. We find it in Isaiah, chs. 42, 49, 50, and
  52-53
• E. Some Jews believed term referred to a person
  already deadHezekiah others see the nation of
  Israel itself

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• F. In later Judaism a connection was made
  between suffering servant and messiah
• 1. Used as my servant five times in Ezekiel
• 2. Used in some spurious works of the
  later period
• But concept of the suffering servant had not
  yet been transferred to the glorious and
  triumphant Messiah.
• Thus, when Jesus uses the term to refer to
  himself it is a unique interpretation

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• I. Writers of Gospels utilized the concept in
  relationship to the vicarious suffering and death
  of Jesus
• J. John seems to referring to it when he used
  the words lamb of Godan Aramaic equivalent of
  the term
• K. Book of Acts makes reference to the servant
  of Yahweh
• L. Paul uses the motif in two instances, 1 Cor.
  153 and Romans 512 where Jesus is fulfilling
  the task of the servant of God

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The Messiah
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• A. Best identified title for Jesus
• B. A transliteration of Hebrew Mashach, which
  simply means to anoint
• C. Term refers specifically to the king of
  Israel, the Anointed One of Yahweh
• 1. Term is used 39 times in Hebrew Scriptures
  and designates the kings of Judah and Israel
• 2. Messianic is connected with David 2 Sam.
  712 God promises that Davids kingdom would last
  forever

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• D. Since Davids kingdom was not forever in
  this life, the Jews developed an eschatological
  interpretation to the term
• E. Biblical passages referring to the messiah
• 1. Gen. 491-12 Until he comes
• 2. Num. 2415-19promise of a war-like king
• 3. Num. 2410-17the Immanuel prophecy,
  impending birth of Messiah
• 4. Isa. 710-17messianic expectation is
  fully developed

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• 5. Isa. 119metaphor of the Messianic shoot
  from Davidspirit of Yahweh will abide in his as
  a permanent force
• 6. Micah 52-5aorigin and birth of the
  Messiah
• 7. Jeremiah 235-6righteous branch, a wise
  and just king, appointed by Yahweh he provides
  for the welfare and safety of Israel

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• 8. Ezekiel 3423-24 2722, 24-25promise that
  Yahweh will bring back a united people to
  Palestine and appoint the shepherd David over
  themreign does not extend beyond Israel

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• 9. Haggai 221Yahweh would bring about a great
  revolution in the immediate futurea son of David
  would be the messianic ruler in the last days.
• 10. Zech. 69-14prophet, acting symbolically,
  was crowned as the coming Messiah for Zerubbabel
• a. Branch had become a messianic name of
  honor
• b. High priest Joshua was to receive the
  crown as a sign that the messiah would come in
  the future

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• 11. Intertestament Period
• a. Concept of a coming eschatatological and
  military Messiah comes largely from the period
  between Malachi and the Gospel
• b. Came to play an important role in the
  deliverance of Israel
• c. Some tried to use formulas to calculate
  the time frame which would bring the Messiah

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d. Messiah would come when the wickedness
of the world has reached its peak e. When
Messiah comes there will be woeswar,
pestilence, famine f. He will destroy the
hostile power then in force and will establish
Zion as his glorious kingdom
34

• G. Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
  celebrates the raising of a new priesthis star
  would rise in heaven like that of a king, he will
  bring peace on earth, knowledge will come to the
  Gentiles and sin will come to an end

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• 12. Contemporary with Jesus
• a. Elijah would come
• b. Birth-pangs usher in a new age
• c. Complete disintegration where normal
  standards will become disorder
• d. A time of judgment
• e. Ingathering of the dispersion

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• 13. Jesus neither rejects nor accepts the
  title
• 14. Mark 941 where word is used as a title,
  not a proper noun
• 15. Mark 1235 where Jesus does not accept
  the title, but is asking what type of person the
  Messiah would be
• 16. Final usage was before the high priest
  where he accepted the title, but qualified the
  idea through the use of the term Son of Man

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Savior
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• A. Perhaps no title is more familiar today,
  but does not seem to have the same type of
  prominence in the NT
• B. Never used by Jesus
• C. Mentioned once in Luke 211 and once in
  John 442
• D. Even in Pauline epistles it is used
  sparingly Phil 320 and Eph 523
• E. Great change in the Pastoral and Catholic
  Epistles10 times2 Tim 110, Titus 14, Titus
  36, 2 Peter 1l, 11, 220, 32, 18 and in 1 John
  414
• F. In these epistles God is referred to as
  savior 7 times

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1. In the Hebrew Scriptures, no other savior is
   mentioned besides Yahweh (Isa 4311 4521 Hosea
   1314
2. When Messiah is mentioned, he is not savior but
   one who serves as Gods agent of salvation
3. The Intertestamental period emphases a savior
4. Concept of individual salvation developed along
   with concept of resurrection

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• K. In Enoch, Apocalypse of Baruch, and the
  Assumption of Moses we see the scene of an
  expected salvation which is laid beyond this
  world of time and history in a transcendent
  futuresalvation has become completely otherwordly

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• L. A look at the word savior
• 1. In the Septuagint soter is sometimes
  applied to humanity
• 2. Many of the judges are called saviors
  (Judges 39, 15 and Neh. 927)
• 3. Word soteria-salvation---has a long
  history in Judaismcan mean peace, preservation
  in safety, help and assistance only later would
  come to mean rescue from sin

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• M. NT emphasizes that Jesus fulfills the
  concept of salvationemphasizes Gods role in
  history
• 1. Luke writes that Jesus came to seek and to
  save the lost, Luke 1910
• 2. This salvation is offered to sinners
  not part of rabbinic Judaism

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Son of Man
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• A. One of the most popular titles Jesus used,
  yet is one of most confusing and complex in the
  NT
• B. It has a background in Jewish apocalyptic
  literature and the motif is found in many of the
  near-eastern religons
• C. Phrase son of man is translated from the
  Aramaic Bar Nasha and Greek uio tou anthropou
• D. First time we see it in apocalyptic
  literature is in Daniel 713the person accepts
  the office of rule conferred to him by the
  Ancient of Days at a heavenly enthronement
  sceneemphasis is that from then on the Kingdom
  of God and his ruler will dominate in place of
  the demonic worldwide kingdoms

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• The term may be influenced by a a half-divine
  Urmensch (primal man)
• Title is used frequently in Ezekiel when it
  occurs more than 90 timesconsensus is that he is
  referring to humanity and those attributes of
  humanity, contrasted with the strength and might
  of God
• In IV Ezra 13 has a figure like a man
• 1. It depicts a continuous series of actions
  brought to an end prior to the reign of the
  messiah

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2. The section tells of 2 different
destructionsfirst against the cosmic power
and second against human foes 3. Son of Man
here has sovereignty, power and honorinherent
in him from the beginning and not bestowed on
him by God 4. Events take place on a
miraculously modified earth
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• H. In the Similtudes of I Enoch is a more
  detailed account of that man
• 1. Book predicts the coming of an Elect or
  Chosen One in whose days righteousness shall
  prevail and in whose the righteous and elect
  will remain forever
• 2. At the resurrection he chooses the
  righteous and holy and sits on the throne of
  God
• 3. Book tends to identify the Son of Man with
  the Elect One

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• 4. The Son of Man will remove kings from
  their thrones
• 5. Mighty will suffer travail pangs when
  they see that Son of Man sitting on the throne
  of His gloryclose parallel to Mt. 2531
• 6. All judgment is given to the Son of Man

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• I. Philo attempted to correlate the Jewish Son
  of Man with a belief in the Hellenistic
  heavenly or primal man
• 1. He saw 2 Adams being creatdGen 127 27
• 2. The idea Heavenly Man disappeared after
  Gen. 27
• 3. God created the second Adam who became the
  transgressor of Gods commands

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1. Term is used 82 in the NT, all but one in the
   Gospels and all but one it is used by Jesus to
   refer to Himself
2. What Jesus meant by the term is open to different
   interpretations
3. One theory suggests when he uses Son of Man he is
   referring to his human nature when he uses Son
   of God he is referring to his divine nature
4. One scholar thinks Jesus used the term to have
   him representing the representative man

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• N. Another believes Jesus used the title with
  the background of Ezekiel and Psalm 8
• 1. Ezekiel speaks of the frailty and
  humiliation of humanity
• 2. Psalm I speaks to the divinity of humanity

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Son of God
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• A. This title was central to the thought of the
  early church, Mark 11The beginning of the
  Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of
• God
• B. The Ethiopian in Acts confesses that I
  believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
• C. Gospel of John write If a man acknowledges
  that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him
  and he dwells in God

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• D. Origin of title came from ancient oriental
  religions
• 1. In Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria the kings
  were thought to be sons of God
• 2. In the Greek world, the term represented
  anyone who was believed to possess some kind of
  divine powerall miracle workers were sons of god

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• E. In the Hebrew Bible, the title was used in
  three ways
• 1. King
• 2. Angels and Messiah
• 3. Israel
• 4. Job 16, 21, 387-Psalm 298, 826, 897

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• F. By time of Jesus it was assumed that Ps. 27
  was interpreted Messianic in some quarters
• G. In the Gospels the term is used quite
  frequently
• 1. In Q the title is used twice in the
  temptation story
• 2. Jesus is seen as the Son at his baptism
  and transfiguration
• 3. John 203Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
  God

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• H. Used in Mark in several ways
• 1. God proclaims Jesus as His Son
• 2. To be the Son of God is also to be the Son
  of Man
• 3. Son of God is used as a title for the
  Messiah
• 4. Son of God is the title given Jesus by
  demons and pagans
• 5. Term suggest the filial relationship of
  Jesus who obeys God even to his death

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• I. Later epistles uses the term in a more
  developed way to identify Jesus with the Father

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Lord
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• A. Many scholars believe that no title is more
  richer than Lord
• B. In New Testament it is generally a divine
  title
• C. One of the earliest titles used by early
  Christians

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• D. Title has background in the Hebrew Bible
• 1. Several words can be translated Lord
• a. Adon or adoniaused as a substitution
  for the tetragrammaton the holy name of God
• b. Baalsometimes used in reference to
  human leaders also used for Canaanite nature
  gods
• c. Thus, word is not used in reference to
  God

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• E. Greek word which translates adonai is kurios
  (kyrios)
• F. Used for God, Jesus, and even while
  addressing an angelsometimes used as a term of
  respect
• G. Word can also mean master, owner, workmen

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• H. In religious world of Jesus the term has
  special meaning
• 1. Used in Caesar worshipused to refer to
  Ptolemy, Herod the Great, Agrippa I and II,
  Caligula, Claudius, Nero, and Domitian
• 2. In the mystery religions it was used to
  refer to Isis, Artemis of Ephesu, and the great
  Mother, Cybele

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• I. One reference is found in Mark and Matthew
  where it could mean simply master
• J. Luke uses it 15 times
• K. John uses the title as a post-resurrection
  title
• L. In early church the word was used quite
  frequently in combinations such as the Lord
  Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, and Our Lord Jesus
  Christ

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Logos
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• A. Used frequently by many church fathers
• B. In the New Testament we find only in the
  Johannine literature
• C. Term seemed to have begun with Heraclitus in
  the 6th century BCE and used extensively by
  Stoics and other Greek philosophers
• 1. Used to refer to the divine principle that
  penetrates, creates, and governs the cosmos
• 2. Plato used it to refer to the intelligible
  cosmos and the first creature of God
• D. Gnostics thought that the Logos was an
  intermediary being between the divine and humanity

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• E. In Judaism the term had two meanings
• 1. The latter Jewish form which conceived the
  word as a personified mediator
• 2. Term was used in Genesis to refer to the
  word of God (debar Yahweh)
• 3. In later Judaism there is a greater
  emphasis on the Memra, word of Godthis word
  would become a substitute for the name and
  action of God
• 4. Concept of the Word was united with the
  concept of personified Wisdom

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• F. Philo helped bring the logos principle into
  Judaismhe uses it over 1200 times
• 1. The logos is the image of God and is the
  bridge between God and humanity
• 2. It is Gods agent of creation

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• G. John used the term as a means of uniting
  Jesus with various concepts
• 1. To the rabbis the term would represent the
  agent of Gods creation
• 2. To the Gnostics who denied a real
  creation, he emphasized that the logos became
  flesh