Paper Example on Christian Theology: An Overview of Its History and Purpose

Christian theology is a critical discipline in the church, and it is related to broader society. Understanding the revelation of the gospel, history, purpose, and practice are the key factors of Christian theology. Christian theology involves the central teachings of the Christian faith, including God as the trinity, the work of Christ, the Spirit, humanity, and the church. Christian theology is defined through history to Christianity as a religion. In general, Christian theology provides a clear and comprehensive description of the Christian doctrine.

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Theology stems from the Christian community's liberty and responsibility to obtain its faith from God. The Christian faith leads to investigation, and, to a deeper understanding of the religion as a practice. The theological work is inseparably linked with an identifiable faith of the community of Christian, and that coincides with the participation in the normal life of a community of faith, prayer, and service. What is seen with Jesus, is the very core of God's concept. What is seen by God is the proclamation and return of selfless affection. God is the object of Christian faith, and God is a mystery beyond all human comprehension. Therefore, the Christian faith is a relationship to the living God and not to a dead, manipulability idol. God has been revealed as sovereign, holy love through Jesus. The Christian theology, therefore, looks into this faith. In Christian theology, a Christian is being of one substance with the Father or, one of being with the Father.

Theology is well-positioned to take into account the overwhelming alterations in modern Christian faith. The Christian faith deals with good and evil, and theology draws wisdom from the religious tradition of Christianity in response to Modernity that overwhelms the Christian faith.

2. Death of Jesus Christ

John chapter 3, verse 16, reads that For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. The verse in the gospel of John describes how Jesus was sent to us and to save humankind from sin. In the Christian doctrine, humankind was delivered through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus Christ's death on the Cross is the defining sacrifice for humanity, making it one of the defining symbols of Christianity. Moreover, as a result of this defining moment in Jesus Christ's earthly ministry, the Christian holy day is known as "Good Friday," observed the Friday before Easter, Christians annually commemorate the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross. His death on the cross is an essential truth of the Christian gospel. It is crucial to the message of the gospel.

The doctrine of God's saving action in the Crucifixion can be created with no other premises than that of the Crucifixion. Indeed, Jesus' earthly life comes to its end and that it is God who ordains the particular end. What Jesus' death did was to put the implicit claim made by his life and teaching to a final test. The central theme of this unit that the death of Jesus Christ is just so the story of God's act to bring us back to himself at his own cost. Jesus Christ was crucified and killed on a Roman cross as recorded in Matthew 25:27-56; Mark 15:21-38; Luke 23:26- 49; and John 19:16-37.

3. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The resurrection of the body of Christ is fundamental to the Christian doctrine, and based on his resurrection, Jesus is essentially one with God. It also shows that from the start of his life, Jesus was divine, and only at the resurrection did this become evident. Jesus' life was entirely ambiguous, and for his disciples, his death was a disaster. However, it is essential noting that Jesus coming back to life is sometimes referred to as a confirmation of what He was in his earthly life.

Through his resurrection, Christ gives ultimate clarity to what had been obscure prophetic anticipation in the Old Testament Jesus' resurrection has retroactive power. Through his resurrection, God declares Him to be the Son of God. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the decisive point of the self-revelation of God in the whole of Christian history.

The Christian faith hinges on the historical event of Christ's bodily resurrection in space-time. The Easter appearances of Jesus and the empty tomb traditions which emerged independently of each other provided evidence for the resurrection as a historical event.

Christ's resurrection is a meta-historical fact, and as a historical fact, it cannot be directly found in the human experience. However, that is not a reason for not examining the human experience because every genuine human experience and, reflects the mysteries of the Christian faith. God's nature is not an intrusion into our social reality, but rather it implies a capacity and a receptivity in the human being.

4. Jesus Christ - 'God's only Son, our Lord.'

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, man can get an idea of the Father. Before Jesus Christ, men had rejected God, and contrived evil, leading them to forget the concept of God to remain thus no longer as they were. By sinning, people lost the understanding of God they had before and therefore overlooked the image of God. In other words, they failed. They got corrupt and could not recognize their Creator. Thus, the Incarnation of Jesus Christ was the rebirth of man that would restore God's image. Through his Father, Jesus was the only one who was dignified to suffer for all and save humankind by renewing what was in the image of God.

The resurrection of Jesus was not just his revival. It involved God's redemption and exaltation of Jesus to a unique status. In the book of Romans 1:3-4, Paul refers to Jesus being designated as "Son of God in power" through his resurrection. Philippians 2:61 represents Jesus' exaltation of him and a presentation of God's aim in doing so. In Psalm 97:9, the statement of God's exaltation of Jesus employs a verb that is used to celebrate God's superiority over all divine beings. Jesus is portrayed as given God's unique name, alluding to traditional Jewish reverence for the Tetragrammaton. In verses, ten to eleven, the phrasing of Isaiah 45:23 is adapted to portray the divinely intended and universal praise of Jesus as "Lord.".

Questions

Describe the religious significance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What does the cross symbolize in the Christian doctrine?

Bibliography

Aland, K. (Ed). Synopsis of the Four Gospels. Greek-English edition of the synopsis 'Quattuor Evangeliorum'. 344-347 10th edition. Stuttgart: German Bible Society, 1993

Athanasius. "On the Incarnation of the Word." In Christology of the Later Fathers, 55-110, edited by E.R. Hardy and C.C. Richardson, London: SCM Press, 1954.

Calvin, J. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Book. II: 16-17, edited by J. McNeill, translated by J. Battles. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960.

Ford, D.F. Theology. A Very Short Introduction. 83-102, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Hurtado, L. How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? 83-107 Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005.

Migliore, D.L. Faith seeking Understanding. An Introduction to Christian Theology. 1-19 Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004.

Pannenberg, W. Jesus - God and Man. 88-108, London: SCM Press, 1968.

Rahner, K. Theological Investigations IV. 121-133, London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1966.

Williams, R. Tokens of Trust: An Introduction to Christian Belief. 57-78, Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2007.