Son Of God Research Articles

Who Do You Say That I Am? (Matt 16:15; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20): Christology in the Synoptic Gospels

This article investigates Jesus’s identity in the Synoptic Gospels by examining the Gospels’ literary features. I take a narrative approach to determine how the evangelists, in unique and shared ways, reveal to their audiences who Jesus is. Certain literary features in the evangelists’ texts provide an answer to Jesus’s question, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matt 16:15; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20). For Mark, Jesus is “Christ” and “Son of God” (Mark 1:1); as the plot unfolds, these terms become guideposts suggesting that characters in the Gospel (and by extension the audience, too) come to a deeper understanding of who Jesus is. For Matthew, the good news of Jesus commences with the relationship between Jesus and Israel’s past through figures like David and Abraham. By observing how Matthew characterizes Jesus in the Gospel, the audience learns that Jesus stands in continuity with Israel. Finally, Luke starts his account with a focus not on figures from Israel’s history, but rather on its institutions, like the temple and the priesthood (see Luke 1:5, 9). Luke’s audience learns who Jesus is by paying attention to Luke’s use of settings and themes. Thus, the particular literary artistry of each synoptic evangelist provides a way for a contemporary audience to know Jesus.

The Meaning of the Son of God

Abstract The New Testament Greek expression ho huios tou theou ‘the Son of God’ is frequently used to refer to Jesus in the New Testament and is central to Christian understandings of Jesus’ identity. It has a complex meaning, grounded in the different ways in which it is used in the New Testament to refer to Jesus. A crisis emerged in recent decades in Protestant Bible translation over how divine familial terms such as Son and Father are to be translated in Muslim contexts. A behaviourist, anti-cognitivist understanding of meaning was incorporated into Eugene Nida’s influential concept of dynamic equivalence and this was one of the key factors that triggered this crisis. A defence is offered here of retaining divine familial terms in Bible translations, drawing upon on an explication of the meaning of ho huios tou theou using an nsm Minimal Languages approach.

BENTUK NYATA KASIH ALLAH MELALUI INKARNASI YESUS KRISTUS BERDASARKAN PANDANGAN ST. ATHANASIUS DARI ALEXANDRIA

St. Athanasius of Alexandria was a Christian theologian and church father from the city of Alexandria. St. Athanasius stated that God manifested Himself in a human body through the incarnation so that His love and goodness could be a proof of salvation for mankind. St. Athanasius also said that the incarnation means that God took on fully human flesh and was present among mankind to show His power and save mankind from the power of sin. St. Athanasius also believed that Christ is the Son of God who came into the world by taking the body of an immaculate virgin, to reveal Himself to mankind. St. Athanasius' various statements make the author interested in answering that the incarnation of Jesus is one of God's actions to restore damaged human nature based on St. Athanasius' view. The method used in this research is a research method with a qualitative research approach and a literature study research type. The author collects and analyzes materials and sources in the form of books, journal articles, the Bible and other supporting sources related to the topic of this research. The author also presents the definition of God's love (saving man), the incarnation: making man return to God and Jesus Christ revealing Himself as the Son of God. The results of this study show that man's actions that violate God's commandments cause man to sin, separate from God and his nature becomes corrupted. Man could not save himself, so God, who is steadfast love, revealed and demonstrated His power by giving His only Son to incarnate and become like man to save all mankind from sin through His death and resurrection. Thus, the incarnation of Jesus was one of God's actions to restore the corrupted nature of mankind, in accordance with the view of St. Athanasius.

“Lord, have mercy” – A Psalmic Paradigm for the Prayer of the Heart

In this study, I aim to emphasize that the psalmic prayer חָנֵּנִי יהוה (Lord have mercy) is the early form and the foundation of the Prayer of the Heart. It has been generally accepted that Jesus' prayer, in its established form – Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner – originates in the Holy Scripture, particularly in the gospels. In this research, I will prove that the New Testament contains an echo of psalmic spirituality. Those who first invoked God’s name and asked for divine mercy to be poured out on them were the authors of psalms. To demonstrate this reality, I will resort to the Eastern Orthodox interpretation method without excluding the interpretation rigors of the critical school. I will use the latter, especially when I tackle terminological delimitations and identify the occurrences of the imperativeחָנֵּנִי / ἐλέησόν. In this study, I will capture, in a few chapters, how the psalmic Prayer of the Heart (Lord, have mercy) became the prayer of the heart.

St. Thomas Aquinas’ Doctrine of Christ’s Descent into Hades and its implications for African Ancestor Christological discourse

The statement “he [Christ] descended into Hades” in the Apostles’ Creed has generated theological debate concerning the nature and purpose of the descent and the relationship of Christ to ancestors. Given St. Thomas Aquinas’ outstanding contribution to the development of this doctrine, this article explores Aquinas’ contributions to the doctrine of Christ’s descent into Hades. It then critiques ancestor Christology through the lens of the descent doctrine. A desktop research approach is used to gather and analyse data from journal articles, books, and theses. The article argues that Christ died in place of sinful humanity and bore the total punishment for sin; therefore, there is no sacrifice for salvation except that which Christ offered. This emphasises that salvation is solely through Christ, and no rituals, sacrifices, or ancestors can replaceHis redemptive work. The article also asserts that Christ,as the Son of God, surpasses any human ancestor inimportance and power, making ancestor Christology invalid. It encourages Akan Christians to place their faith solely in Christ.

Jesus in Centhini

A 19th-century indigenous Javanese literary masterpiece, Serat Centhini, contains Islamic teachings. One of the texts in the multi-volume work describes Jesus as the Son of God, the Word of God, and the Spirit of God who died and was resurrected. Why do its authors describe Jesus in the way most Christians do? Using literary content and contextual analyses, this article shows that Serat Centhini teaches the limitations of human language in talking about God and the need to cross boundaries in spiritual journeys. It also shows that Islam’s reverence for Jesus is more than what most people know, even though Islam remains thoroughly monotheistic. Many faiths can use this article tolearn from other spiritual insights while deepening their core faith. It means that Islam and Christians, especially in Indonesia, can cross boundaries and learn from each other while appreciating Javanese indigenous spirituality.

Vyacheslav Ivanov’s Dionysian-mysterial Plot and his Mystical Anthropology (the Concept of «Thou art»). Second Article

The purpose of the second article on Ivanov’s mystical anthropology is to demonstrate how the plot «thou art» grows out of the Dionysian-mysterial plot that developed in Ivanov’s early work. The research material was Ivanov’s poetic, philosophical, scientific and epistolary texts. Comparative, hermeneutic, structural and semantic methods were used. Ivanov’s mystical anthropology appears as a detailed narrative, the elements of which are symbols denoting mystical entities. This narrative represents the story of the relationship between Anima and Animus, feminine, irrational and masculine, rational. This story is symbolic, it can be interpreted psychologically, mystically, cosmologically. The plot of «thou art» is modeled on the Dionysian-mysterial plot and can be divided into two lines – the mysterial and soteriological ones. Each of them is divided into «male» and «female» versions. In the «male» version of the mysterial line, the Animus distorts the divine Self in itself and separates from the Anima; in the «female» version, the Anima assumes a priestly role and renounces the God-fighting Animus. In the «male» version of the soteriological plot, the Animus acquires its God-human primordial image and transforms into the son of God, Adam, who has risen from the mortal dream. This transformed Animus appears as a Godhuman Bridegroom, with whom the Anima-Bride marries, as a result of which a complete transformation of the human personality is accomplished, the reconciliation of the male and female principles and the birth of a new Dionysus-Bacchus.

Apologetic Evangelical Contextual Christology: A Pragmatic Approach in the Islamic Context (Pakistan)

The conflict over Jesus Christ, the ‘Son of God’, is not new. Thousands of years ago, the disciples faced similar trials; however, the challenge to solve this tension was not based on debates or natural theology but rather to show the works of Christ. This researcher argues that various studies on Christology have already been conducted. However, the Pakistani perspective demands the fullness of Christ in a unique way to reimagine Him in the context of socio-economic, political, and religious challenges. On the one hand, though the traditional way of doing Christology highly emphasizes the personhood of Christ, explaining Him from the eschatological perspective (though it is important), on the other hand, it makes Christ an aloof Jesus who has no concern for the current issues. As a result, this kind of Christological articulation does not explain Christ’s presence in our struggles today. This piece further demonstrates that the context is not above Christ in finding who He is in the midst of such a grave situation; rather, contextual realities provide the Pakistani Punjabi Church an opportunity to demonstrate the works of Christ. Furthermore, this study also argues that the real struggle is not being a minority in this context, but rather, being marginalized (economically, politically, and religiously) is the real challenge. This study further argues that the core issue is the ecclesiastical responsibility to overcome all the issues in this context. The researcher employs quantitative methodology to evaluate the socio-political, socio-economic, and religious perspectives and equips grassroots communities using an evangelical contextual missiological approach. As a result, ‘Apologetic Evangelical Contextual Christology’ is proposed as seeing Christ in all His fullness in the Islamic Context.

‘Divine deceit’ or the ‘devil's delusion’? Gregory of Nazianzus on Christ's defeat of the devil

AbstractThis essay considers Gregory of Nazianzus’ allusion to ‘divine deceit’, a motif related to the so-called ‘Christus Victor’ theory of atonement. This allusion is curious when we recall that for Gregory, the devil, not God, is the master of deception. When we treat On the Lights (Or. 39) as a literary unit – which commentators have yet to do – we see that Gregory makes several doctrinal affirmations before alluding to what is known as ‘divine deceit’. In this doctrinal discussion, Gregory draws upon the Platonic distinction between the orders of being and becoming as described in the Timaeus. He then alludes to ‘divine deceit’ with respect to the order of ‘becoming’, which bears the possibility of being misapprehended because it is ‘grasped by opinion’. The devil's ‘opinion’ of himself and of Christ, therefore, is suspect. Death – or rather, Christ's vanquishment of it – is the moment of reckoning. Since God alone can defeat death, Christ's putting death to death is the only certain way for the devil to recognise that the ‘Son of Man’ is, after all, the ‘Son of God’. The ‘devil's delusion’, then – not ‘divine deceit’ – best summarises Gregory's understanding of this moment in the history of salvation.

<i>Logos </i>is God

The Gospel of John is one of the four Gospels. It is called the Gospel because it contains news about the journey and ministry of the Lord Jesus as the living Savior. However, the Gospel of John has very different characteristics from the other Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke). The influence of the Old Testament (OT) is very strong, so we suspect that the identity of Jesus is truly an inseparable part of Jewish history, so that if the Jews reject Christ, they also reject Him who is part of themselves (John 1:11). This paper attempts to elaborate on the identity of λόγος (logos) which is often the subject of theological debate. The intended effort is made through a biblical study of John 1:1-5. Therefore, the research method used in this paper focuses on the analysis of the text of John 1:1-5 in order to trace the identity of the Logos. The findings of this study show that the logos (Jesus Christ) is also God. The Son of God who revealed the Father to humans. Revelation through Jesus Christ aims to make God (the second person) known to humans.

The Messianic Language in Romans 1:3-4: Focusing on “Descendant of David” and “Son of God”

The Messianic Language in Romans 1:3-4: Focusing on “Descendant of David” and “Son of God”

Pengharapan Akan Kedatang Yesus Kembali Di Dunia Ini

The hope in the return of Jesus Christ is a central concept in Christian theology that has been a source of comfort, strength, and motivation for Christians for centuries. This concept refers to the belief that Jesus Christ, as the son of God, will return to this world to complete his plan of salvation and begin a new era marked by justice, peace, and eternity. This abstract provides a brief overview of the hope in Jesus' return, including its theological foundations in the Bible, various theological interpretations, and its practical implications for personal life and the Christian community. Through understanding this hope, Christians are given a call to live in faithfulness, obedience, and constant preparation, and to share the message of salvation with my world. The hope of the return of Jesus Christ is not only the focus of worship and spiritual reflection, but also the driving force for just social action and comprehensive love in a world filled with suffering and need.

“THE MYSTERIOUS AUTHOR” FROM SPASSKY: A LETTER FROM I. S. TURGENEV TO P. V. ANNENKOV DATED OCTOBER 14, 1853

In the article, the letter of I. S. Turgenev to P. V. Annenkov dated October 14, 1853, which structurally comprises a “physiological essay” about a “little man” and an Easter poem allegedly written by this “little man,” and in fact — by a “mysterious author,” is analyzed. The letter is considered as a letter-work that has already overcome the narrow framework of the epistolary genre during the writer’s life and has become a discussed text. In Turgenev studies, however, the question of the biographical author of the Easter poem remains the main issue in examining the letter: today, in the reader’s space, the poem de facto functions as a work of both Turgenev and Lermontov. The “prosaic” part of the letter about the painter-poet is considered by researchers to be preparatory material for a subsequent work. Meanwhile, the letter is a “cryptographic text,” and as a whole conceals a hidden “Pushkin code,” which is “read” thanks to numerous hints contained both in the letter itself, in its “prosaic” and poetic parts, and in the friendly correspondence between Turgenev and Annenkov. A comparative analysis of the two texts of the Easter poem prepared by the Turgenev academic group, one of which is in a letter dated October 14, 1853, and the other, in the Dubia section, revealed numerous discrepancies in these texts, as well as their significant deviation from the original text published in the Literary Gazette in 1840. In academic texts, all sacred words — the Glory of God, the Son of God — are graphically eliminated. Such eradication of religious and aesthetic feeling, “concealed” in the graphic “decapitation” of the names of Christ, again actualizes the issue of the need to publish the creative heritage of Russian classics in an authentic form.

About the distinction ancient and medieval education

On the basis of documentary sources and specialized literature, a historical and comparative study of the transformation of education in the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages in Europe was carried out. The essential content of the term “education” is analyzed as a kind of “picture of the world” of a certain person with his own understanding and perception of the environment.The political, ideological and cultural conditions that determined the specifics of the educational process, which influenced the nature of the education of the population, are traced. The destruction of the ancient Roman state and the achievement by Christianity of the status of the main religious ideology in Europe are named as the main (defining) prerequisites. It is shown that during the existence of the Roman Empire, an educated person was considered to have special knowledge, skills and abilities to replace (if necessary) one of the positions in the governing apparatus of the slave state. And in the education of a medieval person (especially at the initial stage), scientific and rational components were completely absent. Its level was directly connected with the religious and ideological worldview of the individual. The inviolability of faith in Christ (as the Son of God and the Savior of mankind) and knowledge of the essence of the most important Christian worldview values. As a result of the study, the author came to the conclusion that the most important indicators of influence that determined the specifics of a person’s education in the period of antiquity and the Middle Ages were the “content richness” of upbringing and education, the “form of organization” of the educational process, and, of course, the direction (“purpose”) social training of the younger generation during the transition to adulthood.

Identifying Milton’s ‘Presence Divine’ as the Son of God: An Allusion to Revelation 1:17 in Paradise Lost VIII.314–17

Identifying Milton’s ‘Presence Divine’ as the Son of God: An Allusion to Revelation 1:17 in <i>Paradise Lost</i> VIII.314–17

Analisa Perumusan Konsep Ketuhanan Menurut Perspektif Thomas Beighton (1790-1844) Dalam Karya Inilah Kunci Pengempar (1841) Analysis of the Formulation of the Concept of Divinity from Thomas Beighton’s (1790-1844) Perspective in the Work Inilah Kunci Pengempar (1841)

Writing and printing are among the fields pioneered by the London Missionary Society (LMS) missionaries since their arrival in the Straits Settlements at the beginning of the 19th century AD. Thomas Beighton (1790-1844) was involved in this role, particularly within the Malay Muslim community of Penang. This required from Beighton, a mastery of the Malay language and Jawi script, which enabled him to produce a large number of works in that language. Therefore, this study which uses textual content analysis will concentrate on one of Beighton’s works dealing with the concept of divinity entitled, Inilah Kunci Pengempar (This is the Centrifugal’s Key), published in Penang in 1841. Through this work, Beighton has used a metaphysical approach in his writing to spread Christianity in the country. As a result, Beighton was discovered attempting to apply the concept of divinity based on the concept of trinity, which refers to God: the Father (Allah), Son of God (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit in all descriptions. This shows the efforts of the Christian missionaries at that time, who were enthusiastic about spreading the religion, including learning Arabic and comprehending certain concepts in both divine matters and Islamic law (the Shari‘ah).

Aktualisasi Karakter Kristus Menurut Philip Yancey Bagi Pendidikan Iman Kristen

The problem of this article is discussing the importance of Philip Yancey's Christological views applied in efforts to educate Christians in their faith which is centred on Christ. The purpose of this article is to explain Yancey's thoughts about the figure of Jesus who changes the lives of believers to become like Him. The method used is literature study. The results show that Yancey's thoughts about the characteristics of Jesus were not to stimulate objective academic-dogmatic thinking, but rather to present personal reflections as a journalist in order to reveal the identity of the Nazarene Youth through the literature he wrote. The Jesus he knew was a figure who changed him and would also change every person who met personally with the Son of God. Yancey tries to develop a new synthesis regarding the character and profile of Jesus and encourages readers to welcome Jesus as the authority over human life. Yancey's ideas about the figure of Jesus can be used as material for Christian faith education for the maturation of believers' faith. In conclusion, people who know and believe in Jesus personally are guaranteed to experience renewal of life and become like Him.

Il Figlio nel suo rapporto con il Padre. Per una nuova umanità

The intent of this study, The Son in his relationship with the Father. For a new humanity consists in highlighting the founding aspect of the Christological mystery, which lies in the structure of Crist’s subjectivity of being and behaving as the Son of God in vital relationship with the Father both at the divine and human levels. This constitutes its unmistakable and absolute identity, which is indicated by the New Testament texts, by some magisterial pronouncements and by the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. From human participation in divine filiation derives a new anthropological and moral vision of human existence and living.

A Case for Divine Sonship: Jesus as ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ in John 8:42

A prominent theme in the Gospel of John is the Father-Son relationship. Jesus is clearly presented by John as the Son of God. Evangelical interpreters also affirm that the deity of Jesus is taught in John’s Gospel. There has been some debate among interpreters concerning whether or not Jesus’ sonship in the Gospel directly contributes to the understanding of his deity, and if so, how. This article seeks to present a case for divine sonship in Jesus’ language in John 8:42, particularly Jesus’ claim : “I came from God” (ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐξῆλθον). The evidence presented will include linguistic analysis (e.g., patterns in John’s word choices, word meanings, combinations of prepositions and verbs, etc.), contextual analysis, and theological parallels in John’s writings.

The long lost Ebionites. A relook at the Ibo region of West Africa

The Ebionites were a Jewish sect that knew Jesus intimately; had their own Nazarene Gospel; but held immovable beliefs that challenged key tenets of Christianity. They disappeared in the fourth century leaving a vacuum physically and ideologically. About a millennium later, the Portuguese reported of a people in West Africa with a Pope and Papacy similar in structure and veneration as the Roman Catholic Pope. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, missionaries and anthropologists scouring the region confirmed those reports, as well as the presence of other Levitical influences amongst the Igbos of Nigeria. This paper researches those similarities with a focus on the religious cosmology of the Ibo people of Asaba. It applies ethnographic qualitative research, then places the findings over the tenets of Catholicism with respect to their organizational structure; sacraments; rites; and steps to becoming sons of God. The results show that the ideologies of the Ibo and the Romans were deeply intertwined in every area of the study. The paper posits that the only way the religious ideologies of the Romans and the Ibos could have so closely mirrored each other, is if they were both in the same place at the same time. Thus, concludes that the Ibos [Eboe, Igbo] are the Ebionites. The paper offers hypotheses to explain the role of the ego in creating the core tenet of this unifying cosmology, and possibly how the convergence occurred. The paper could form the basis for renewed research in Hebraic-African studies; Black-American dispersion; Mary Magdalene; Jesus’ crown of thorns; the sequence of biblical gospel events; and even a template for future religion in this ego-driven civilization.