2. Jesus' Authority

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we examine Jesus’ authority, focusing in particular on (i) the equation of Jesus’ miraculous activity with his teaching, as presented in the Gospel of Mark (ii) Jesus’ proclamation of the ‘kingdom of God’, and the significance of references to divine rule for his authority (iii) occasions where Jesus uses precedent to justify his teachings, such as when he comes into conflict with the Pharisees (iv) occasions where Jesus amplifies or rejects certain teachings by referring to himself as the tradition, without regard to precedent, such as in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (v) Jesus’ authority as derived from his identity, and his identity as something which enables his claims and actions.

Course

In this course Dr James Carleton Paget (University of Cambridge) examines the identities associated with the person of Jesus. In the first module, we introduce the person of Jesus by providing some historical background, and assessing the nature of the documents containing accounts of Jesus. After that we look at Jesus’ authority, with special reference to precedent and the relationship between Jesus’ identity and his authority. In the third module, we examine the wisdom of Jesus by investigating the substance of his teaching. Then we discuss the idea of Jesus as a liberator - both a political liberator and liberator from evil, before moving on to examine Jesus as the Son of God. Finally, we take a look at Jesus’ uniqueness, in terms of his teaching, the hypostatic union, divine revelation and salvation.

Lecturer

James Carleton Paget is a lecturer in New Testament Studies at the University of Cambridge. His research interests are research interests in Jewish-Christian relations in antiquity, ancient Jewish Christianity, inter-testamental Judaism and the history of ancient biblical interpretation. His publications include Jews, Christians and Jewish Christians in Antiquity (2010) and The Epistle of Barnabas: Outlook and Background (1994)