Title:
A Christological examination on the pre-existent nature of Jesus of Nazareth
Author:
Jamie Long
Thesis Advisor:
Angela Christman
Thesis Advisor:
Steven Fowl
Committee Member:
James Buckley
Degree Granting Institution:
Loyola University Maryland--College of Arts and Sciences
Place:
Baltimore (Md.)
Publisher:
Loyola University Maryland
Date Created:
2017
Type of Resource:
text
Genre:
thesis
Language:
eng
Format:
application/pdf
Physical Form:
electronic
Digital Source:
born digital
Abstract:
The life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth fundamentally changed human history for most of humankind. The establishment of the Christian religion, which first began as a sect of Judaism, survived wars, persecutions, heresies, and denominational schisms, and yet remains steadfast on a global scale. How could something so profound occur through a mere three year ministry of a Jewish carpenter? His closest followers referred to him as the Son of God, as told by the prophets who would return the Holy Land to its rightful people. Others referred to him as a blasphemer and troublemaker, looking to make an example out of his death on the cross. Christianity survived the early onslaught of those who looked to end its practice. The great Apostolic Father and disciple of the Apostle John, Tertullian said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” The survival of the church did only predicate on its physical survival, but also on the survival of its theology. A certain type of theology develops, focusing mainly on the nature of Jesus himself and this will come to be called Christology. Christology itself casts a wide net of topics including Scripture and multiple avenues of religious interpretation from various scholars and theologians. The following pages will focus on Christology and what certain scholars themselves interpret the meaning of the preexistent nature of Jesus. The first chapter will explicate on the great New Testament scholar Raymond E. Brown, who serves as our baseline in Scriptural Christological examination. Brown possesses the ability to place the Word as determined by John’s gospel at a period before creation. He is able to accomplish this task without prejudice and clear theological scholarship. The subsequent chapters, featuring Professor Larry Hurtado, Professor James Dunn, Bl. John Duns Scotus, and my own arguments will build off of Fr. Brown and offer their own perspectives on the essential questions posed in this thesis: 1) How early does the notion of preexistence develop in Scripture, 2)How does this notion affect early Christology, and 3) What critiques arise among scholarship of the scholars examined, specifically looking at Alan Segal and Maurice Casey?
Degree:
Master of Theological Studies
Level:
Master
Discipline:
Theology
Restrictions on Access:
Author has given permission to make this work available online.
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Identifier:
LongJ-17
