In my coursework, I will be focusing on the titles of Jesus. In Mark's Gospel and how he deals with them. I will also describe how Mark changes the meanings of these titles to describe Jesus personally, and how he brings a new meaning to the titles.

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Matthew Lewin Page

R.S. GCSE COURSEWORK

SON OF GOD

AQA SYLLABUS SECTION 1C

In my coursework, I will be focusing on the titles of Jesus. In Mark’s Gospel and how he deals with them. I will also describe how Mark changes the meanings of these titles to describe Jesus personally, and how he brings a new meaning to the titles.

I shall also look at the relevance of these titles for Christians today, and how Christians respond to the use of these titles.

Jesus often referred to himself as ‘the Son of Man’. The Son of Man was supposed to have heavenly authority, as described in the Book of Daniel. Mark takes the two ideas; that the Son of Man will suffer for God’s will and that the Son of Man has authority, and brings them together - claiming that Jesus is the Son of Man. Generally, this title is not used as much as ‘Son of God’ because the meaning of it is not clear and most Christians do not understand its relevance.

‘Jesus Saviour’ was another title used in Mark’s Gospel to refer to Jesus. The name ‘Jesus’ means ‘Saviour’. Matthew’s Gospel states that Joseph was told – “You are to name him Jesus because he will save people from their sins.”

Mark describes Jesus as the saviour in his Gospel. Today, Christians believe in Jesus as the person who, through his death and resurrection, saved his followers from their sins.

Mark also describes Jesus as ‘Christ Messiah’. In Mark’s Gospel the word ‘Messiah’ means ‘Anointed One’. The Jewish people were expecting a Messiah to save them from Roman occupation. Mark saw Jesus as a spiritual leader, not a military leader. The Messiah would be human, but not God in human form – that would be blasphemy and had to be a descendent of David.

‘Son of David’ was a title of Jesus; referring to the fact the Messiah would be a descendant of David. There would have been a lot of descendents of David at the time of Jesus, because David had many wives. This title is closely linked to ‘Christ Messiah’.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowd called him ‘Son of David’. Also, by entering on a donkey, he fulfilled Zachariah’s prophecy of the Messiah.

Jesus was often called many minor titles in Mark’s Gospel. ‘Teacher’, which can also mean ‘Rabbi’ or ‘Master’, described a very important part of Jesus’ mission – teaching about God. His teachings were based on the fact that he is the Son of God.

‘Lord’ was a title only given to Jesus after his resurrection, and Mark did not call Jesus ‘Lord’. This title was given to Jesus to show his divine authority over everything.

‘King of the Jews’ was a title given to Jesus by at the trial before Pilate, and at the crucifixion. Mark uses ...

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‘Lord’ was a title only given to Jesus after his resurrection, and Mark did not call Jesus ‘Lord’. This title was given to Jesus to show his divine authority over everything.

‘King of the Jews’ was a title given to Jesus by at the trial before Pilate, and at the crucifixion. Mark uses the title as a Messianic title.

John baptised Jesus in the River Jordan. As soon as Jesus came up out of the water, a voice came down from Heaven saying,

At the baptism, God confirms that Jesus is the Son of God. At the time, many Jews referred to themselves as Sons of God. With this quote, Mark shows that Jesus is God’s ‘own, dear’ Son. It shows Jesus’ special and unique relationship with God.

A second example of the use of the title ‘Son of God’ was at the Transfiguration.

Jesus took Peter, James and John up to a high mountain, alone. The three disciples were shocked suddenly to see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah, both major Old Testament figures.

A cloud appeared, and a voice came down saying,

“This is my own dear Son – listen to him!”

When the disciples looked around, they could only see Jesus.

This passage once again displays Jesus’ divinity and unique relationship with God, but also confirms that Jesus is the Son of God to the disciples.

A third and final example of the use of the title ‘Son of God’ was at Jesus’ Jewish trial. He was tried in front of the Sanhedrin, who tried to find a crime against him. The High Priest asked Jesus,

“Are you the Christ, Son of the Blessed God?”

Jesus replied,

“I am.”

This text is an example of Jesus confirming that he is the Son of God to everyone.

By the time of Jesus, the ‘Son of God’ was regarded as being a Messianic title referring to the one who would come to fulfil the Jewish expectations of the Messiah. It was not uncommon for Jewish men to refer to themselves as sons of God.

Mark gives the title, a very unique meaning, rather than a general term. He describes Jesus as having the very closest relationship with God – he is God’s Son.

Mark believed Jesus was the Messiah, and gave Jesus the title ‘Son of God’ to display this fact.

Christians believe in the Holy Trinity. This means that they believe that God has three parts, but yet is one. Christians believe in evidence of the Trinity, even in the early Old Testament:

“Let us make man in our own image.”

Christians believe that God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have always existed (as proved in the opening paragraphs of John’s Gospel). They share the same Godly attributes and qualities. For example, God is seen as all knowledgable and this attribute is also given to Jesus.

Mark does not specifically mention the existence of the Trinity, but makes it clear that there is a special relationship between God and Jesus.

The idea of the Trinity was not formalised until the third or fourth century by the early leaders of the church.

Christians today believe that everything proceeds from the Trinity. They also believe that whatever exists in the world has the Trinity at it’s end.

The Creed teaches that there is not three Gods, but one God in three persons. The ‘Father, the Almighty’, the ‘Only Son of the Father’ and the ‘Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life’. The father and the Son and the Holy Spirit do not share one divinity. Each of them is fully God, yet there is only one God.

The Book of Genesis opens with; ‘In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth’. John wrote in his Gospel that; ‘In the beginning was the word (referring to Jesus). He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came to be.’ The Bible also states that the Holy Spirit is the ‘Creator Spiritas’ – as the church affirms in its worship.

According to this belief, Jesus is one part of the Trinity – the Son of God. He is the only ‘begotten Son of God’. When people talk of the Son of God, they mean that he is fully God. However, he is only part of God, and makes up the second part of the Trinity, which is also God. He shares all of God’s attributes and is God.

Today, not all Christians agree in their approach to interpreting the Bible or church teachings.

Fundamentalist and Literalist Christians believe that Jesus is literally the Son of God, and that there can be no other interpretation of this title. Whilst other Christians, such as Liberals, may see the title as a metaphor for another meaning, Fundamentalists and Literalists believe in the literal translation of the title ‘Son of God’.

Because of this belief, Fundamentalists and Literalists will follow the teachings of the Bible exactly. For example, when Jesus tells his disciples,

“Give up everything and follow me.”

These Christians will do exactly this. They will give up their possessions for Jesus, an example being Mother Theresa, who became a Nun.

Liberal Christians accept that Jesus had a special connection with God, but believe that there is an element of metaphor in the interpretation of this title. They believe that the title ‘Son of God’ actually represents that everybody is a Son of God.

Liberal Christians, therefore, use the Bible as a moral guide for their lives, but do not do exactly as the Bible instructs.

Conservative Christians have a more balanced view of the title. Their belief takes elements from both Fundamentalist and Liberal beliefs, in a middle viewpoint, although many Conservatives have Fundamentalist leaning beliefs.

The Catholic Church, and many Catholics are Conservatives. They believe that Jesus was and is the Son of God, but some things written in the Bible can be open to interpretation.

Conservative Christians believe that the Bible is inspired by God, and has God’s authority. They consult the Bible for moral guidance, but do not, like the Liberals, always do as the Bible instructs, because these instructions can be interpreted in different ways. However, Conservatives do take example from the Bible more often than Liberal Christians.

Conservatives see the title as a reminder of Jesus’ divinity and that Jesus is God. However, ‘Son of God’ can also be used in a general sense as well.

The title ‘Son of God’ is a controversial title when used to describe Jesus.

Christians, who believe the title could be dropped, argue that the title can be interpreted in many ways, and does not necessarily mean that Jesus is God’s son. The meaning of the title is not clear and it would make sense to drop it according to these Christians.

However, many Christians who disagree believe that the Son of God is the most popular title used by Christians. They also argue that titles such as Son of Man do not make sense to Christians today.

Although, there are some Christians who argue against the use of 'Son of God'. They argue that not all Christians understand the title. Also Jesus used the title Son of Man more regularly in the Gospels meaning that Son of Man describes Jesus’ mission better. Jesus himself when he healed the paralysed man at Capernaum said that the “Son of Man has authority on Earth to forgive sins” thus describing his mission.

However, not all people belong to the Christian faith. These people may be from another religion, or atheists, who do not have a religion.

An example of this group would be Judaism. The Jewish faith is similar to Christianity, but they do not believe in Jesus being the Messiah. For this reason, Jews would argue that the title ‘Son of God’ should definitely be dropped, as to call Jesus the ‘Son’ of God is misleading – as he was only a prophet, and not the Messiah, as Christians believe.

The title Son of God clearly demonstrates a special connection between Jesus and God. It also displays Jesus' divinity. It could, however, also be a metaphor to represent that God is a father figure and that Jesus was one example of everybody being a Son of God. On the other hand, the title Son of God could be interpreted to be that Jesus was literally the Son of God.

However, I believe that the use of this title should continue. It clearly shows that Jesus was unique – he was the ‘Son’ of God. Titles such as Son of Man or Son of David are not clear in their meaning – however, ‘Son of God’ clearly demonstrates the divinity of Jesus.

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