Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Bible Alive Jesus Christ Eleven: The Mystery of Christ in the Apostolic Church


Here are questions from the ELEVENTH class of Bible Alive: Jesus Christ, meeting Tuesday nights. ONE MORE CLASS TO GO! To follow you will need to read the book Jesus Christ: Fundamentals in Christology, by Roch Kereszty, o. cist.
ISBN-10: 081890917X
ISBN-13: 978-0818909177
It can be ordered here NOTE: YOU NEED to read the book.

Assignment: Answer Questions for class eleven:

1. How does 1 Peter 1:10-12 interpret christologically the whole of the Old Testament?

2. Show that the Suffering Servant passages, combined with the Son of Man texts, are the key to a Christological interpretation of the Old Testament.

3. Interpret the four Suffering Servant songs in Deutero-Isaiah.

4. Explain:

a. Jesus as the Son of Man.

b. Jesus as the New, Eschatological Israel.

c. Jesus as the High Priest and Perfect Sacrifice.

d. Jesus as Messiah.

e. Jesus as Son of Adam and the Last Adam.

f. Jesus as the final and complete theophany of God (especially the absolute “ego eimi” statements in the Fourth Gospel).

5. Explain and illustrate the differences between the theological perspectives of Palestinain, Jewish-Hellenistic, and Hellenistic-Gentile early Christian communities.

6. What is nonscholarly conservatism? Give examples of adherents. What does it claim about Jesus? Explain it.

7. What is nonscholarly liberalism? Give examples of adherents. What does it claim about Jesus? Explain it.

8. What is scholarly liberalism? Explain it. How did it come about?

9. What is Bultmannian Existentialism? How did it come about? How is it distinct from scholarly liberalism?

10. What is moderate conservatism? What are its two types?


Thursday, July 16, 2009

Bible Alive Jesus Christ Ten: The Implicit Christology of Jesus


Here are questions from the tenth class of Bible Alive: Jesus Christ, meeting Tuesday nights. To follow you will need to read the book Jesus Christ: Fundamentals in Christology, by Roch Kereszty, o. cist.
ISBN-10: 081890917X
ISBN-13: 978-0818909177
It can be ordered here NOTE: YOU NEED to read the book.

Assignment: Answer Questions for class ten and read Jesus Christ: Fundamentals of Christology Chapter Six pp. 148-186 AFTER going over all the guides so far (ten weeks total).

1. Why could the earthly Jesus have only an implicit Christology?

2. Explain in detail the implicit Christology of Jesus.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Bible Alive Jesus Christ Nine: The Kingdom & Jesus' Death


Here are questions from the ninth class of Bible Alive: Jesus Christ, meeting Tuesday nights. To follow you will need to read the book Jesus Christ: Fundamentals in Christology, by Roch Kereszty, o. cist.
ISBN-10: 081890917X
ISBN-13: 978-0818909177
It can be ordered here NOTE: YOU NEED to read the book.

You will need to explore in depth the similarities and differences between the Passion Narratives in the four canonical Gospels at this wonderful scholarly resource.

Assignment: Answer Questions for class nine and read Jesus Christ: Fundamentals of Christology Chapter Five pp. 136-147 AFTER going over all the guides so far (nine weeks total).

1. How can you show that Jesus saw his death as part of God’s Plan of Salvation?

2. How do the words of Jesus at the Last Supper (Mk 14:22-25) and his actions at this Supper shed light on Jesus’ understanding of his own death?

3. Show that Jesus’ death, as an expiating sacrifice, is not opposed to his initial announcement of freely offered forgiveness.

4. What indications do we have for the authenticity of Jesus’ cry from the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me”?

5. What indicates that Jesus’ predicted his resurrection? Yet, if he did, how could he truly suffer anguish?

6. Do Mk 9:1, Mt 16:28, Mk 13:30, and Mt 24:34 necessarily imply a chronologically imminent end of the world? Explain.

7. What is Jesus’ position on the “day and hour” of the End?

8. How has the Kingdom become present in our world through the death and resurrection of Jesus? What is still to be expected? Why do we pray everyday for its coming?