Starting Points for

Christology
Ms Vanessa M. Puno
 1. The New Testament
• The Synoptic Gospels present a very different Jesus than the one that
emerges in John
• The Synoptic Jesus says very little about himself; he is much more concerned
with the coming of God’s kingdom
• Mark’s Gospel identifies Jesus as the “Son of God” (Mark 1:1), but as it
begins without the traditional Christmas story, it is difficult to see this as
having any more than an adoptionist sense; Jesus is declared God’s son at his
baptism (Mark 1:11)
 1. The New Testament
• Mark sees Jesus as the Messiah and Son of Man who must suffer, probably based
on the suffering Servant
• The Christology of Matthew and Luke present Jesus as Son of God from the time
of his virginal conception.
• Luke’s reflection on the mystery of Jesus extends back to the events preceding his
birth and includes the “infancy narratives”
• The story of Jesus in the Temple at the age of twelve suggests an effort to pierce
the veil of his “hidden life” something that has fascinated Christians from the
earliest days of the Church
 1. The New Testament
• Luke also represents people addressing Jesus as “Lord” even during his
public life, though it is more likely that this title was applied to him only after
his death
• Matthew’s high Christology is evident in his adding to Peter’s confession,
“You are the Messiah” (Mark 8:29) the words, “the Son of the living God”
(Matt 16:16) and in his use of the title Emmanuel, “God is with us,” for Jesus
(Matt 1:23)
 1. The New Testament
• The Fourth Gospel, John, begins by presenting Jesus as the incarnate word
of God (John 1:14) and ends with Thomas’ Easter confession, “My Lord
and my God” (John 20:28)
• The Johannine Jesus speaks in long discourses, not parables. He proclaims
himself as the Messiah (John 4:26) and only-begotten Son coming from the
Father (John 3:18), existing before Abraham (John 8:58) He frequently
speaks of himself using the formula, “I AM” (John 6:35; 8:28; 10:11) used in
the Old Testament and rabbinic tradition for the divine name of Yahweh
 2. The Creeds and Dogmas of the Church
• The Nicene Creed is actually a revision of the creed of Nicaea (325) by the
First Council of Constantinople (381) still recited at Mass every Sunday.
• The creed is an official statement of the belief of the Church. It is
normative for the Church’s faith.
Creeds as starting point for Christology
Christology from above – the Church’s Christological faith, including its
profession of the divinity of Jesus, is rooted in some way in the actual Jesus of
history
 2. The Creeds and Dogmas of the Church
• Christology needs to be established “from below”, to be grounded in the
words and deeds of the Jesus of history
 3. The Faith of Christian People
• What do contemporary Christians say and believe about Jesus?
• The idea that Jesus had been confronted with the same struggles faced by
each of us is for many Christians difficult to grasp. They find it hard to
believe that he had to face real temptation, that he had to struggle to
integrate his sexuality, discern God’s will for himself, and discover his own
vocation.
• They have been used to imagining Jesus primarily from the standpoint of his
divinity. Such a standpoint is in his divine nature
 4. Historical-critical approach
• “Based on purely historical sources and arguments” The Gospels and other
New Testament documents are written in the light of the Resurrection and
of the disciples’ Easter experience of new life in Jesus; they are products of
Christian faith
 God Raised Him from the Dead
The death of Jesus was a shattering experience for the disciples. It left them
disoriented, terrified for their own safety, unsure of the future. Many of them
seemed to have fled Jerusalem and returned to Galilee.
• Luke suggests something of their confusion and disappointment in the story
of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. – story of two disciples about
Jesus and his tragic death to a stranger
 The Easter Experience
• The experiences were varied from Jesus suddenly appearing in closed doors, those
closest to him do not immediately recognize him. Mark 6:12 – suggests that Jesus
appeared in another form to two disciples
• Some reduce the easter experience to a subjective experience on the part of the
disciples. The resurrection becomes a product of faith
• Edward Schillebeeckx speaks of the Easter experience as a conversion process, “a
gracious gift of conversion to Jesus as the Christ through Jesus himself “who
enlightens, who discloses himself as the Risen Christ in and through the grace of
conversion.”
 The Easter Tradition
• Easter Kerygma or ploclamation and Easter Stories
• The terms “exalted” or “exaltation” are sometimes used in place of
“resurrection”
• Exaltation conveys the idea that Jesus has been brought from the dead and
enthroned “at the right hand of God” (Acts 2:33)
• It appears in the pre-Pauline hymn in Philippians: “he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God
greatly exalted him” (Phil 2:8-9)
 Easter Kerygma
• The Easter Kerygma represents short, formulaic expressions of belief in the
resurrection of Jesus deriving originally from early Christian preaching or
liturgy.
• The Easter Kerygma predates the Gospels and even the letters of Paul
• First letter to the Corinthians: it may originate in the community of Antioch
in the thirties: Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that
he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the
scriptures; that he appeared to Kephas, then to the twelve (1 Cor 15:3-5)
 Easter Stories
• The stories are dramatic, imaginative accounts, narratives complete with
dialogue and vivid detail about persons, place, and circumstance.
• Stories about the discovery of the empty tomb and appearance stories
• IN the Second Stage of Writing the Gospel: The Apostolic Preaching, the
proclamation of Christ with different modes of speaking and literary forms
are “catecheses, stories, testimonia, hymns, doxologies and prayers.
 Easter Kerygma
• The apostles repeated the sayings of Jesus, proclaimed his teachings, retold his
parables and the stories of his life and death
• Easter Kerygma: the proaclamation of the resurrection of Jesus often with an
enumeration of the witnesses (1 Cor 15:3-8). The point of the Kerygma was to
bring others to new life in Christ
• Sayings of Jesus: These were handed down and grouped in collections such as the Q
source. Bultmann distinguished 3 main groups of sayings: logia or sayings in the
narrow sense – exhortations and questions), prophetic, and apocalyptic sayings, and
laws or community regulations
 Easter Keryma
• Stories about Jesus – His baptism, ministry, choice of the Twelve, his
interaction with his disciples and others, and his fate
• Parables – used to present his message include proverbs, examples, similes,
allegories, and the more familiar narrative parables. They were transmitted in
the early tradition and grouped together; the evangelists frequently adapted
them to reflect their editorial and theological interests and sometimes
allegorized them
 Miracle Stories
• The early communities told stories recounting the miracles of Jesus, as they
were passed on, they were frequently magnified, expanded, and gathered into
collections, healings
Liturgical Formulas: Some Jesus tradition comes from the liturgical and
sacramental life of the early communities. Retelling of the miracle of the
loaves, and the story of the meal Jesus shared with the two disciples on the
road to Emmaus (Luke 24:30)
 The Writing of the Gospels – 3rd Stage
• The evangelists were not eyewitnesses to Jesus ministry
• Each worked both as an editor, selecting and synthesizing material, and as an
author, developing his Gospel according to his own insights and gifts and shaping it
according to the needs of the community for whom he was writing
• Mark, the author of the First Gospel, is difficult to pinpoint in terms of locale and
audience. He is thought to have been a Jewish Christian with ties to Palestinian
Jewish Christianity. His community was clearly facing persecution. Many think his
Gospel was written from Rome, or at least with a Latin milieu, before the
destruction of Jerusalem.
 Matthew’s Gospel
• Written after the final break between the Jewish Christians and the Jewish
community, leading to the excommunication of the former from the
synagogue around the year 80. It clearly reflects the conflict between the
Jewish Christians and the reform movement of the Pharisees at Jamnia.
• Matthew himself may have been a Jewish- Christian scribe. Part of his task
was to assure the Jewish Christians of Antioch who were rapidly becoming a
minority in a Gentile church that their new situation was in fulfilment of
what had been spoken by the prophets
 Luke
• Luke is thought to have been a Gentile Christian, by tradition from Antioch.
He may have been originally a covert to Judaism, one of the “God-fearers”
(Acts 10:2) before his conversion to Christianity. He was familiar with the
Septuagint translation of the Jewish Scriptures and of all the evangelists the
most polished in Greek. He was able to imitate both classical, and Hellenistic
Jewish styles. His two-volume work, Gospel and Acts, universal in its
conception, was addressed primarily to Gentile Christians related to the
Pauline mission either through Paul or his disciples
 John
• John’s Gospel independent of the synoptic tradition is based on the tradition
of the “Beloved Disciple” perhaps originally a disciple of John the Baptist
and then a follower of Jesus.