Course Code: BTT11

Person and Work of Jesus, the Christ

BD III, Semester II, 4 Credit Hours, Senate Paper

Course Objectives

1. To help the students to evolve faith expressions on Jesus Christ in a holistic perspective to meet the challenges of witnessing Jesus Christ in the pluralistic context of South Asia.
2. To facilitate the students to have a better understanding of Jesus Christ by situating him in the historical milieu of first century Palestine informed by biblical witness and current scholarship.
3. To enable the students to grapple with the Christological debates in the history of Christianity.
4. To enable the students to evaluate the doctrinal developments on the person and praxis of Jesus, the Christ in the light of the socio-political and religiophilosophical issues of our times.

Course Requirements

• Final Examination 100%

Course Outline

1. Unit I: Re-imagining Jesus from his Praxis of the Reign of God
2. Unit II: Titles and Metaphors of Jesus (from the New Testament) and the other Christological Interpretations
   1. Synoptic representation of Jesus: Son of Mary, Son of David/Abraham, Messiah, Lord, Son of God, The Human One.
   2. Logos, New Adam, High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, Kenotic Christology.
3. Unit III: Christological debates during the Patristic PeriodIrenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Arius, Athanasius, Appolinarius, Nicene Creeds, Cappadocians, Cyril of Alexandria, Antiochene-Alexandrian debate, Chalcedonian definition.
4. Unit IV: Mediaeval and Reformation ChristologiesAquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin
5. Unit V: Doctrine of AtonementClassical Theories of Atonement and Evaluation:
   1. Satisfaction Theory
   2. Ransom Theory
   3. Penal Substitution Theory
   4. Sacrificial Theory, and
   5. Moral Influence Theory.
6. Unit VI: Western ChristologiesFrederich Schleirmacher, Karl Barth, Albert Schweitzer, Jurgen Moltmann, Wolfhart Pannenberg, John Meyendorf
7. Unit VII: Christological Reflections from AsiaRaja Ram Mohan Roy, BrahmaBandhab Upadhayaya, P. Chenchiah, V. Chakkarai, M.M. Thomas, S. J. Samartha, Dalit, Tribal, Adivasi, Kosuke Koyama, C.S. Song, Aloysius Pieris, Kwok-pui-Lan.
8. Unit VIII: Emerging Christologies from the MarginsLiberation Theology, Black Theology, Womanist Theology, Feminist Theology, Minjung Theology, Eco-theology.
9. Unit IX: Christ in Indian Paintings, movies, literature and Secular Presentations
10. Unit X: Autobiographical Christologies“Who do you say I am?”
11. Unit XI: Critical Evaluation

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