Unfortunately, the microphone did not record the class last night.
The audio in this post is from a theology class I taught a few months ago. It covers a few of the same themes we discussed last night; especially Jesus as the starting point for all our theology.
In class we took the second article of the Creed word by word: “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.”
Jesus
What is our starting point for all theological reflection? In order to understand every single word the Creed uses we have to start from this name: Jesus of Nazareth. He is the very content of what it means to be God. You can’t shoehorn Jesus into a doctrine of God (or Scripture, or the church, etc.) that you already have up and running. He is where all Christian theological reflection begins and ends.
Karl Barth put it well: “[The second article of the creed] is the touchstone of all theology. ‘Tell me how it stands with your Christology, and I shall tell you who you are.’”
Christ/Messiah
With this word the story of Israel is brought to the forefront: he is the messiah promised to Israel. This brings up questions about the relationship between Israel and the church (i.e. supersessionism/replacement theology).
Robert Jenson: “The church speaks of the Messiah’s ‘return’ because she believes that she has already met the one who will come again, whereas the synagogue simply awaits the Messiah’s coming. But we wait together and for the same thing.”
Chris Green: “Christianity is not the replacement of Israel, but it is the being-placed-into Israel.”
The Only Son of the Father
If you’ve seen the Son you’ve seen the Father. The Son shows us the very heart of the Father.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
We usually hear “God so loved” as meaning how much God loved us. But the Greek word “so” (houtos) means “thus” or “in this way.” This is the way God loves us. “For God loved the world this way, he gave his only Son…”
The cross is the way God loves us.
Our Lord
“Lords,” as we know them in our world, have subjects. They are masters with slaves. Is this how God is “our Lord”? Is God a master with slaves?
This “Lord” comes among us as one who serves. He comes as a slave (Phil. 2:7). He is Lord precisely as a slave. The name “Jesus of Nazareth” chastens all our preconceived notions of what lords and masters look like.
Some more resources:
* A lecture from Chris Green on the theme of supersessionism: “The Fire and the Cloud: A Biblical Christology”
* A podcast by Chris Green on the Master/Slave theme in Colossians: “Lord, Deliver Us from Mastery”
* Ben Myers, The Apostles’ Creed
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