This course explains why a small group of monotheistic Jewish men and women begin to worship the man, Jesus Christ. That worship led to the formation of Christianity and a body of beliefs about the person and saving work of Jesus. The answer to this question also apologetically helps believers to defend and to explain the faith to Muslim and Jewish persons who in their respective ways deny Christian teaching about Christ. Most importantly, who Christ is stands at the centre of what it means to be a Christian (we are called Christians after all). Knowing Christ not saves Christs but informs every aspect of a Christian’s growth in godliness.

This course will define why the earliest Christians worshipped Christ through a deep engagement with the biblical text and early Christian reflection on the Bible’s meaning. It will define who Jesus is, what he did, and how his life, death, and resurrection saves human beings. To do so, the course will also study non-canonical writings from the time of the apostles and afterward. These non-biblical reflections from those of a similar time-period to the audience of the New Testament provide insight into the meaning of the apostolic teaching, contained in the Scriptures. By the course’s end, students will know how Christians explained their worship of the man Jesus Christ: Jesus unites divinity and humanity in his person, has overcome death, redeemed human nature, and sent his Spirit to guide and lead back to God.