Christology

Course Summary

This understanding of Jesus Christ is the fruit of the study of person and mission of Jesus Christ: Christology. This has been a central focus of study for theology since the beginning of the Church. What we believe and argue today about whom Jesus is and what He did was earned through much prayer, thought and argument. This course will enable students to learn and understand the foundations upon which all Christology rests, the theology developed from the apostolic age through the Council of Chalcedon in the fifth century A.D.

Successful completion of this course earns 2.5 CEU's.

General Course Objectives

• Learn the key theological concepts of Christology
• Understand the process by which the Church developed Christology
• Understand why the Church judged some ideas about Jesus Christ as heretical and others orthodox
• Gain a full understanding of how the Church understands who Jesus is and what He did, and the reasons why the Church holds this understanding

Course Materials

• Required Book: Luttenberger, Gerard H. Who do you Say that I Am? An Introduction to Christology CreateSpace (Self-Publishing), 2012 ISBN: 1466384344; ISBN-13: 978-1466384347
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Course Structure and Highlights

• Week 1: Introducing the Study of Christology
  • Understand the essentials of Christology as a sub-discipline of theology
  • Understand how the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith are inseparable though distinguishable
  • Introduce the student to the different, yet complimentary portrayals of Jesus found in the four Gospels
• Week 2: "Who do you say that I am?" Christology in Scripture
  • Learn how Jesus is portrayed in each of the four Gospels
  • Understand the cultural, political, and social context within which Jesus ministered
  • Understand the theology each of the four evangelists wished to communicate
• Week 3: The Earthly Ministry of Jesus
  • Analyze and understand what Jesus Christ preached, and why
  • Understand what a miracle is, and is not
  • Understand what the Kingdom of God is
  • Understand the significance of the Last Supper
• Week 4: The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus
  • Understand the theological concept of atonement and the models of atonement which exist in Christology.
  • Understand the full significance of the passion and death of Jesus Christ
  • Understand why Jesus Christ was put to death
  • Understand what the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is, and is not
• Week 5: Classical Christology
  • Understand the orthodox teaching Jesus Christ as true God and true human being, and why the Church came to this teaching
  • Understand something of how the two natures of Jesus, divine and human, co-exist in the divine person of Jesus
  • Understand what “orthodoxy” and “heresy” mean, and do not mean
  • Be introduced to the idea of God as Trinity, which grew out of the debates about Jesus Christ

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