The Film: The Son Of God

Note the interesting facts or points and your thought and reflections on these points.

The real man....

Ep 1

• Jesus was one of the 80 sources to write about Jesus, confirms Jesus was a real man.

• From simple pathways specialist are able to build and picture what the town was like before it was covered in water.

• Some believed that there no journey to Bethlehem.

• Jesus born in a cave? ( which is now under a church)

• Bethlehem was built on a hill and there were caves under houses where they were used for stables.

• The word inn was translated to the upper room.

• Scientist technology has improved drastically to be able to recreate what the stars look like many years ago.

• April the 17 the Jupiter was an Aries star. Then there was a moon eclipse that revealed Jupiter. Also during this time there were many things happening in space with the moon and the sun also in the aries.

• Also it is said that the time of birth of Jesus was miscalculated where Jesus was actually born 6 years earlier.

• Marry was pregnant in and unmarried state. And people are saying that Marry's pregnancy is true or not? As long time ago if a women was pregnant before marriage they would have been severely punished.

• Jesus has some sort of half-brother and sisters.

• The temple in Jerusalem where some of the temple still exist today.

• There were many political chaos during the time of Jesus' childhood.

• Judaism believed that the Messiah has not arrived yet; thinking of all the possibilities of what the Messiah is. They are still waiting for the Messiah.

• River Jordan: where Jesus was baptised by John wearing animal skin which was the significant turning point in Jesus' life.

Ep 3

• Upturning the market tables in to temple was like a symbolic act. Because Jesus believed that the temple was not a place for exploiting people to obtain money but as a place to worship God.

• Judas was called a friend by Jesus, this impacted on the disciples to be shocked when Jesus told judas to 'do what he had to do'. But the disciples did not suspect Judas for betraying Jesus, instead for helping Jesus with the Passover.

• Jesus was in great agony Shen he wS in the city Bethany, as he understood what he had to be do. He sweated blood.

• It has been proven that sweating blood was possible, which is a physical condition where a person has been placed under great anxiety that the arteries burst and combine with the sweat.

• This bring on to show how Jesus was going through great emotional turmoil. As he knew that he time was coming to and end.

• However, Judas' betrayal was misinterpreted as in the Jewish ways people were paid when they handed someone over. Like the police works today.

• Kaiafus had to accuse Jesus of a sin to condemn him to punishment. He therefore stated that Jesus was causing disruption by acting as the Messiah. He was therefore charged of blasphemy( bringing God down by stating that someone was equal to the God.)

• Arguments about where Jesus was nailed, experts say that it could no ave been his hands and must have been the wrist as the weight of Him would have torn Him off the nail. However it has been tested that the imagine of Jesus was crucified was in fact quite true as the heel took off the weight off the hands.

• Through the suffering of the Messiah it is possible for evil to perish.

• However, Jesus was like us, humans, so he was frustrated at God "God where are you now?"

• Women came to visit the tomb 3 days after Jesus death, however the ran away terrified when there was no body in the tomb. Theory 1: the body was never taken down to from the tomb. Theory 2: Jesus' body was stolen.

• It was said that there was a possibility that Jesus was given an anaesthetics, however, it is not possible because there was a group of soldiers who specialised in crucifixion. Soldiers would have to use a spear to cut the side of the person to prove that the heart was pierced therefore the person was dead.

• There has been crucial evidence shown through the early follower's mind; from being skeptical the were changed to be willing to sacrifice their lives for their belief. This would show that they strongly had faith in Christianity and therefore, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Christ Files: Student Questions and Tasks

What is unique about Christianity from an historical perspective?

Central claims can be checked out. There are tangible historical evidence.

What types of academic research into Christianity are usually reported by the media? Why do you think this is?

Newspaper and magazines. Scandalise and controversy topics like Jesus had a wife. As this is to get people to be interested and to buy it.

When were the Gnostic Gospels written and what was there focus?

2nd and 3rd century and their focus was gnosticism that where written by the christian curt group. Post-resurrection of Jesus.

Some people claim, on the basis of the Gospel of Phillip that Jesus married Mary Magdeline. On what basis do they reach this conclusion and why do mainstream scholars challenge this thinking?

People claim that jesus married Mary because of the missing words assuming it is "mouth". Scholars challenge this idea because scholars see this as the source of the second belief of Christianity.

What did Celsus in the late second century claim and how do his claims aid the case for Christianity?

Celsus claimed that Jesus' birth was suspicious, that his birth was ill legated birth from his mother from roman soldier and that the miracles were Egyptian sorcery. As he was writing in the 2nd century that theses things were happening.

Who was Tacitus, when did he write and how is his writing helpful to the Christian cause?

Tacitus was a roman historian. He wrote in 114ce (commom era). He tells us when and where Jesus lived and he tell us that he was known as Christ and also mentions about the certain circumstance of his death.

Who was Pliny, when did he write and why is his writing helpful to the Christian cause?

110ce should we keep feeding the followers to the lions and the followers of Jesus was worshipping him like a God.

What can be reliably claimed by historians on the basis of Greco-Roman writings?

Historical figure, teacher, from Palestine, supposed king/Christ, worshipped as divine and executed under Pilate.

Who was Josephus and when did he write his history of the Jewish people?

Josephus was a Jewish historian and was writing in the second half of the 1st century.

What did Josephus have to say about Jesus?

One that Jesus was a wise man along with other wise people. As be performed baffling deeds/ strange deeds.

Which part of Josephus’ writing are considered to have been tampered with?

It was the bit about him being a messiah, they thought they were tampered with by Christians.

How does the discovery of possible tampering increase your confidence in the findings of historians?

This means that people feel like the historians are not giving us false information

What can be known about Jesus from Greco-Roman writing?

Mary and James, ambiguous birth, Palestine c. 26-36 ad, teacher, miracle worker/sorcerer, roman/Jewish trials, crucifixion, messiah p, worshipped as divine.

What was the point of the football match analogy?

How do scholars regard the Gospels and the New Testament and why does it not concern them that the authors were biased?

They would say that the Gospel as the best historical source that exists. Even when they are biased reliable information can still be found. But historians still take biased perceptive into consideration.

When were Paul’s letters written?

1448-64 ce

Briefly explain the criterion of multiple attestation.

Combining supporting facts from multiple sources to make a claim more reliable/believable.

Why is a 20 year gap between Jesus’ life and the first written accounts considered fairly good?

Comparing with other written accounts Jesus's life was written a lot earlier compared to others. Other famous people were written with a much wider year gap.

Why didn’t people write about Jesus sooner?

There was no printing press and people simply did not know how to read and write.

Why was oral communication regarded as much more reliable in Jesus’ time?

This is because written documentation was thought to be unreliable as people hand wrote and people changed and had their own opinionated views. Peoples's memories were extremely well-trained back in those days and is therefore much more reliable in Jesus' time.

Why is the Old Testament important to historians in understanding Jesus and his activities?

- vital for understanding what Jesus was all about

- it explains one of the most significant events of Jesus' life; which was the "Last Supper"

- it had many special meanings hidden within