Christ

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CHRIST
In Christianity, the Bible is the Word of God. Christians, therefore, recognize the inerrancy of the biblical texts and emphasize on a complete adherence to it for individuals to attain sanctity. As opposed to Judaism, which lays emphasis on the Old Testament, Christianity puts more emphasis on the New Testament with particular interest placed on the Gospel. The Gospel denotes biblical text concerning the life and ministry of Jesus Christ here on earth. The hermeneutics of the gospel is a genre that deals with in-depth Christological exegesis. (Rausch 7) These interpretations begin with infancy narratives. These are descriptions that detail the events in which the Virgin Mary became pregnant trough the power of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, the birth of Christ is received with sharp criticism especially since Christians emphatically hold the belief that Jesus is God. In the Old Testament, God uses the terms ‘I Am’ to refer to Himself which is taken to emphasize his omnipotence, omniscient and omnipresent nature. Christianity is also monotheistic and thus the idea that Christ is one with God and is still the son of God seems to introduce plurality that is unacceptable.
It is however commonly agreed in Christian doctrines that redemption can only be achieved through repentance and faith in Jesus. After a fruitful ministry where Jesus used parables to teach about salvation and entry into the Kingdom of God, the narrative of the gospels culminate with the passion narrative that marked the onset of the messianic age.

In this narrative, the high priests led by Caiaphas were concerned about the popularity of Christ and forged false accusations against him to Pilate, the Roman governor. This trial led to the eventual Passion which involved Crucifixion of Jesus at Golgotha. In this self-emptying act, the Son of Man thus received glorification expiated for the sin of the world. As had been prophesied in His pre-existence, the resurrection of the Messiah took place three days later affirming the vitality of Christian faith. The apostles who were the initial audience of the word of Jesus and held by its transformative power when he sent them the Holy Spirit formed the first church under the leadership of Peter. (Johnson 3) At first, for fear of persecution, the met on a secret temple where they emphasized on koinonia and sharing in the body of Christ. Soon, the disciples and other evangelists traveled out of Israel proclaim salvation through repentance and faith in God to the rest of the world. Among the most prolific evangelist was Paul who wrote various epistles to guide the church in different regions. Despite the fruitful ministry, the missionaries encountered immense difficulties. Towards the end of the Greco-Roman period, there rose Emperor Nero who persecuted Jews in the diaspora and thus Christianity. (“Tacitus: Nero’s Persecution Of The Christians”) He is thought to have ordered martyrdom of Peter n Paul. Other things that Christians had to struggle with were Hellenization from the Greeks in Athens and Roman cults such as the Mithras cult.
The early church also suffered from the emergence a literalist mentality which emphasized on adherence to biblical teachings exactly as recorded in the Bible. This introduced reversal theology which stressed the spreading of the gospel in the literal sense with an interpretation of the word as it appeared in a gospel concordance commentary. Reversal Theology can have a double meaning referring to either camp that ignores one facet of evangelization and leans on the other. In the literalist logos, righteousness should receive justification by faith solely without action. (“Direction: The Great Reversal: Evangelism Versus Social Concern” 1) However, Christianity continued to preach that soteriological evangelism should involve mission to the whole person body and spirit. Actual mission is contextualist and should consider the reality in which the message is being preached to achieve relevance. (“Direction: The Great Reversal: Evangelism Versus Social Concern” 1) In any case, Christianity which has nothing to the needs of the people is not relevant, and no one will follow it entirely. Eventually, the actions and faith of every individual will affect their fate during eschatology.

Works Cited
“Direction: The Great Reversal: Evangelism Versus Social Concern.” Directionjournal.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 9 Dec. 2016.
Johnson, Paul. History Of Christianity. 1st ed. New York: Touchstone, 2014. Print.
Rausch, Thomas P. Who Is Jesus?. 1st ed. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2003. Print.
“Tacitus: Nero’s Persecution Of The Christians.” Public.wsu.edu. N.p., 2016. Web. 9 Dec. 2016.