This is my talk to the public at St Mary's Church (Twickenham), which explore the Christian views on Jesus of Nazareth, soon proclaimed as the "Son of God" and much later (the Creed of the Nicaea in 325 CE) as "begotten from the substance of the Father". At the end people were encouraged to ask questions

1. From Jesus of the Scriptures…
to Jesus of the Creeds
Revd Dr Piotr Ashwin-Siejkowski - St Mary’s Church/Twickenham

2. In this presentation we shall only scratch the surface of an iceberg….

4. The ‘earliest’ words of Jesus…
• 1 Corinthians, 7:10, “To those who are married I command –
not I, but the Lord: A women should not be separated from
her husband… and a man should not divorce his wife.”
• 1 Corinthians, 11:24-25, “For I received from the Lord what I also
handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was
betrayed took a loaf of bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he
broke it and said, This is my body that is for you. Do this in
remembrance of me. 25 In the same way he took the cup also, after
supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this,
as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.
• Acts, 20:35, "Remember the word of the Lord Jesus, how he
said: It is a more blessed thing to give, rather than to
receive."

5. Paul’s views of Jesus

6. Paul and Jesus of Nazareth…

7. Paul’s views of Jesus
part.2
• “Paul was interested in what God has done in Jesus more than in
who Jesus was”*
• Jesus’ death and resurrection is the central event in the history of
humanity: Jesus, the ‘second Adam’:
- disobedience/obedience;
- death/life;
- transgression/reunion;
• Paul believed in Christ’s immanent return, this faith shaped his
seven letters: 1 Thessalonians, 1 – 2 Corinthians; Philippians,
Philemon, Galatians, Romans.
* R.A. Burridge and G. Gould, Jesus Now and Then, (2004): 86.

8. Paul’s views of Jesus
part.2: the Epistle to Philippians, 2.5-11
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
and being found in human form,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

9. the Epistle to
the Philippians,
2.5-11
in the earliest
existing papyri
P46 (2nd CE,
now in Chester
Beatty Library
Dublin)

11. Paul’s views of Jesus the Epistle to Philippians, 2.5-11
in the Codex Sinaiticus a manuscript of the Christian Bible written in the
middle of the fourth century, contains the earliest complete Greek copy of the
Christian New Testament (you may see it in the British Library!)

12. Paul’s views of Jesus part.2: the Epistle to Philippians, 2.5-11

13. Destruction of Jerusalem (70 CE)
- why does it matter?
The Arch of Titus near the Coliseum in Rome depicts the Roman conquest of
Jerusalem in 70 CD

15. Jesus in the Synoptic
Gospels….
• Mark (c. 70 CE): the shortest Gospel (only 16
chapters the last chapter is later edited),
shows the growing conflict between Jesus and
his Jewish milieu (Jesus rushes
around/immediately 10 times). Jesus is the
secret (divine) Messiah. No continuity with
Judaism… The end of the current world is
near…

16. Jesus in the Synoptic
Gospels….
• Matthew (c.80 – 96 CE): The Christ of the
Scriptures: the Scriptures had foretold the
exact circumstances of Jesus’ coming, death
and resurrection (e.g. the Bethlehem star:
Numbers 24:17 – in Mt 2:2). The Gospel
presents a strong anti-Jewish polemic.

17. Jesus in the Synoptic
Gospels….
• Luke (c.80 – 96 CE): The Christ of the
Gentiles: Jesus is depicted as the patient
teacher concerned about the poor, the hungry,
the sorrowful… Jesus the model for his
followers.

18. Jesus in John’s Gospel
• John (100 – 110 CE) portrays Jesus as the
divine Redeemer/Stranger (Wayne A. Meeks)
who has descended and will ascend. Jesus
reveals his Father and his unique relationship
with God. Salvation comes through recognition
of Jesus’ true status.

19. From the original Jewish Christianity to Gentile communities

20. From the original Jewish Christianity to
Gentile communities
1/ Jesus of Nazareth did not found a new religion (‘Christianity’), he
wished to reform his own religious tradition in Palestine (Galilee).
2/ Destruction of Jerusalem (70 CE) – Christians (so far mainly Jewish
converts) asked themselves about their identity. “Where do we
stand?”
3/ The mission among the Jews more and more difficult: no success –
rejection of Jesus as ‘the Messiah’. (This problem is reflected in all
four Gospels).
4/ Paul’s ministry and authority (after the so-called Council in Jerusalem
Gal 1:16 ) turns towards non-Jewish audience/disciples and is
successful.
5/ The Kingdom of God, Jesus’ return did not happen as expected…

21. Jesus of the Apologists (2nd CE)
The Alexamenos graffito (2 CE/Rome): “Alexamenos worshipping [his] god”
(Αλεξαμενος ϲεβετε θεον)

23. Jesus of the Apologists (2nd CE)
1/ who were ‘apologists’? Christian intellectuals who
defended Christian faith against Gentile (!) accusations
of superstition and being an immoral cult.
2/ Irenaeus of Lyons (2 CE): Pauline theme: Jesus the
second (divine) Adam, Jesus ‘repaired’ what Adam
destroyed (Jesus- new Adam; Mary- new Eve)
3/ Justin Martyr (2 CE): Jesus is the embodiment of the
divine Logos/Mind proclaimed by Greek philosophers.
Jesus existed before the creation of the world.
4/ During the 2 CE Christian intellectuals well acquainted
with philosophical notions (‘person’, ‘substance’, ‘trinity’,
‘consubstantial’) introduced these notions to their
audience. Christianity lost its links with Judaism.

24. Jesus in inter-Christian polemic (2nd
CE): docetism? adoptionism? or…

25. Jesus and the praying
Churches
(2-3rd CE)
Didache/Ch 7:
“And concerning baptism, baptise this way: Having
first said all these things, baptise into the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
in living water. But if you have no living water,
baptise into other water; and if you cannot do so in
cold water, do so in warm. But if you have neither,
pour out water three times upon the head into the
name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit.”

26. Arius (d. 336): Jesus ‘above’ all
creation but ‘lower’ than God

27. Arius (d. 336)
Arius’ argument based on the Gospels:
1/ John 14:28: If you loved me, you would rejoice
that I am going to the Father, because the Father
is greater than I.
2/ John 17:3: And this is eternal life, that they may
know you [Father], the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom you have sent.
3/ Mark 10:17-18: Good Teacher, what must I do to
inherit eternal life? Jesus said to him: “why do you
call me good? No one is good but God alone”.

28. Arius
Arius’ ‘creed’:
We acknowledge One God, alone not-begotten, alone
everlasting, alone without the beginning, alone true, alone
having immortality, alone wise, alone good, alone sovereign;
judge, governor and administrator of all, unalterable and
unchangeable, just and good, God of Law and Prophets and
New Testament; who begat an Only-begotten Son before all
times, through whom he has made both the ages and the
universe. The Son – the offspring is not a portion of the
Father, is not consubstantial (Gr. homoousios – ‘of one
essence’) with the Father....
Athanasius, On the Synods of Ariminum and Seleukeia, 16.

29. Arius’ opponent:
Athanasius of Alexandria,
one of the architects of the Nicene Creed

30. The Creed of Nicaea (325 CE) rejection of Arius’
view: introduction of the non-Scriptural term “of
one substance (ὁμοούσιον)”
We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all
things visible and invisible;
and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten
from the Father, only-begotten, that is, from the
substance of the Father, God from God, light from light,
true God from true God, begotten not made, of one
substance with the Father (ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρί), through
Whom all things came into being, things in heaven and
things on earth, who because of us men and because of
our salvation came down, and became incarnate and
became man, and suffered, and rose again on the third
day, and ascended to the heavens, and will come to
judge the living and dead,
and in the Holy Spirit.

31. Jesus for us (“For whom are you
looking?” John 20:15)