‘Inquiry Approach’
26th August 2019
Key Lutheran Theological Concepts
Outcome 1.1 & 1.3
Below are some of the Lutheran key theological concepts that underpin Christian Studies in Lutheran schools. There are scholarly articles, readings and resources that portray and support these key concepts. My personal response to these readings and resources and how they have developed my understanding of the key theological concepts have been reflected on also. Throughout the Equip journey, it has challenged me to dig deeper, to understand who God is for myself, wrestle with scripture and critically reflect upon readings in comparison to the bible. These key concepts are a foundation to develop religious literacy from a Christian perspective.
God as father, son and holy spirit
Elements of God can be difficult for humans to comprehend and fully understand as God is perfect, all-knowing and all-loving. One of these elements that can be difficult to fully grasp and be able to express in a way that encapsulates it all, is God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christians believe that there is ONE God who reveals himself as three persons; God as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (CSCF, 2015, p.24-28).
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2 Corinthians 13:14- 'May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.'
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This verse begins to portray how the three are connected as one and each play a part in being one God. The grace of God shown through his Son, Jesus Christ which is not dependent on our imperfections, love of our heavenly Father and the fellowship through the Holy Spirit with other believers.
I find visual images can have such power and I use them to express my understandings and difficult concepts.. God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit is a key theological concept and a very central element of the question 'Who is God?'. However, one image will never portray and incorporate this mystery of the Christian faith fully. Here are some visual representations, portraying God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit that resonate with me personally. There are many images and symbols for the Triune God such as triangle, three circles, three ovals intertwined. This image below encapsulates some key aspects of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit and this is why:
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God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are intertwined and together make ONE
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The three parts make one whole, if you take one away it is not 'God' anymore because God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit
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The strand keeps going, there is no break in it and the ends meet showing the connection between all three elements.
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Made of the same thing- the three that are one God have the same nature and attributes
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Each part has equal importance
God the father
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All-knowing
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All-loving- “for he is good; his love endures forever.”- Psalm 106:1
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Alive and active
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Father-like figure
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Creator of all things
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Gods ways are “perfect” (Psalm 18:30)
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He is a “faithful God who does no wrong,” and is “upright and just“ (Deuteronomy 32:4)
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Patient and kindness never runs dry
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Forgives
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Approachable
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Loves us enough to give us guidance and commandments to live by
God the son
Jesus feeds the 5,000
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Disciples- God works through others
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Sense of community
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Jesus helps, feeds and cares for others
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Emphasis is placed on Jesus in this picture- his actions and stance
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Calm, caring and kind looking
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People going to Jesus for help
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People kneeling and asking God- He is approachable and all knowing
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Jesus is at the center and attention drawn to it
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Jesus is giving out food- food sustains us which shows that Jesus is sustained by God and therefore can provide sustenance for others
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Luke 9:10-17- ‘satisfied’ & there were left overs- more than enough
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Jesus healed and performed miracles- power of God in him
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Welcomed the crowds- accepting and all-loving and all-knowing
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‘Looking up to heaven’ the connection between God and Jesus
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Revealed God through speaking and acting (Bartsch, 2013)
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John 1:14- ‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.’
God the holy spirit
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Speaks to us
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Alive and active
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Speaks to us through the bible
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John 14:26- 'But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.'- Shows us the way- leads us and brings light to situations
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Points people to Christ as their saviour
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Helper
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Lives inside of us and help us build God's character and nature into our lives- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
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Helps us serve God by serving others
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Leads us to have a faith relationship with God (Bartsch, 2013)
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Romans 15:13 'May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.'- Holy Spirit can fill you with joy and peace.
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John 14:16- 'And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.'- Holy Spirit guides, helps us and is with us forever given to us by the Father (shows the relationship between God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit).
The story and life of Jesus Christ is possibly one which students have already been exposed to throughout their life, however in Christian Studies we hope that their understanding and personal relationship with Jesus Christ is grown (CSCF, 2015). Jesus is 'God in flesh' (John 1:14) and was sent to show God's love and grace towards us (sinful humans). Jesus' life shows one of humbling himself, serving others and pointing people to God. God sending his Son Jesus into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit to live a perfect life, die and rise victorious from the grave is the greatest form of love shown (Challies & Byers, 2001). Jesus dying on the cross and experiencing great pain, persecution and judgement for us to become closer to God and be able to be in relationship with God. It bridged the gap between imperfect humans living in sin and the perfect God. We did not deserve this kind of love and grace shown towards us.
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Jesus is the saviour of the world and is 'fully human' and 'fully divine' and is seen as the 'Prophet', 'Priest' and 'King' (CSCF, 2015). The gospel of Jesus Christ is offered to everyone, that all who believe (not just acknowledge) his life, death and resurrection are saved from their sins.
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Romans 10:9-10 "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
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- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQPfFNRw4Rs
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It speaks of the burden we carry and that we have an invitation to accept Jesus as our saviour. 'My heart needs a surgeon, My soul needs a friend' is an amazing image of what God heals us and is always there for us, like a friend. It speaks of running to the father again and again and again..we continuously need to repent of our sins and ask for Gods forgiveness of these as we are imperfect humans.
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The Bible is the word of God and is such an integral part of us knowing God, the works and person of Jesus Christ and with which God can speak through with the Holy Spirit (CSCF, 2015, p. 46-50).
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The bible is:
- Alive, active and powerful: Hebrews 4:12- ‘For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.’​
- The bible is not just to be read once and left at once- but digging into His word and pulling it apart to gain further meaning and new revelations through the work of the Holy Spirit (Bartsch, 2013)
- Declaring God's word brings power and breakthrough
- God's word directs our paths and brings direction and clarity- Psalm 119:115- ‘Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.’
- Living in God's instruction and through is word is essential in building a relationship with od and deepening our understanding of who He is and our salvation through the work and life of Jesus Christ. Is is essential, like bread.- Matthew 4:4- ‘Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
- IMPORTANT: that we read the bible in context- 'Three worlds of text' to look into the deeper meaning of the text rather than pulling it out of context.
- The bible has authority in how we teach, what we believe and how we live.
- Important historical context
Personal Reflection:
In one of the Equip sessions, the book 'Inspired' by Rachel Held Evans was recommended to read. I have not completed reading it yet, however it has challenged me in my thinking and way I perceive the bible as well as how we should be encouraging students to view the bible through our Christian Studies units. This may be the only opportunity students have to engage with the bible, read it, learn about it and be challenged through the stories and content. As an educator, I believe we need to be digging deeper into the bible for personal revelations and understandings personally as this develops a passion and yearning to know and understand more about who God is, His purpose for our lives. This passion, desire and excitement is essential in the classroom for students also and can stem from them seeing it in us as educators.
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Rachel Evans' views on the bible and being 'Inspired' through the bible in different ways is very interesting. These aspects I would love to reflect when incorporating it into Christian Studies:
- She is making the bible relevant in different ways with strong theological underpinning
- She explores different interpretations of Bible stories, retelling them through poetry, screen-plays, memoirs (historical accounts through personal knowledge) and soliloquies. This is a very interesting concept as it is individuals interpretations of the bible and Bible stories. Expressing understanding of the bible and digging deeper in a variety of ways is important, as long as individuals read for themselves from scripture and create their own ways of expressing their understandings.
- Looking at the bible from different perspectives and linking bible stories to personal stories as this can create relevance. Murdoch states this is vital for students and their desire and passion for learning (2006).
- Evans quotes- 'Every page of scripture is an invitation- to wonder, to wrestle, to surrender to the adventure.' This quote is so powerful as we all (including students) need to realise that the bible is not meant to just be read and accepted, but to grapple with, question, pray about and seek God for clarification and answers through the power of the Holy Spirit
- The bible isn't all positive and a nice fluffy book to read- it is challenging, confusing and sometimes hard to comprehend as humans
- The Holy Spirit can speak through and reveal things in the bible to us. Evans likens it to waiting for the wind to stir, that God is still breathing and speaking through the bible to us. She quotes- 'the bible is both inspiring and inspired'.
- Rachel encourages individuals to recapture the power, passion and desire to understand the bible and how God speaks clearly through it.
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Challenges from the book:
- Not to change the meaning and power of the what the bible is saying by making it too relatable that it becomes easy for humans to understand..as this may take the power out of the 'miraculous' nature that God works in.
- How to effectively incorporate some of Rachel's ways of how to view the bible into Christian Studies in a way that closely lines up with the key theological concepts
- Reading some of peoples responses to the book- needing to search further for myself about the background and theology of the way she portrays aspects of the bible.
God wanting to be in relationship with us is a comforting thought. That the one God, powerful, perfect, creator of all things cares about us and every individual person and wants to be connected with us. God created everything in perfect harmony (story of creation- Genesis 2), however this became broken through sin. God sending His son, Jesus Christ to mend this and take away our sins is a sign of how much God loves us and wants to be in relationship with him (CSCF, 2015, p.73). That the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ and God the Father all draw us closer to Him and accepting Jesus as our saviour removes that sin barrier for us to full be in relationship with him.
We can be in relationship with God through worshiping him, speaking to him and hearing from him (Challies & Byers, 2001, p.13). The Christian religiion is based on a relationship with the creator of the universe. Being in relationship with someone requires knowing things about them- who they are and what they love to do. We need to grow in our understanding of what God is doing, has done and his plan for our lives.
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Prayer and Worship have been further explored through the Christian Studies Unit of Work and Three Worlds of Text to dig deeper into the power and need for prayer as a form of worship.
Bartsch, M. I. (2013). A God who speaks and acts: theology for teachers in Lutheran schools. DoctorZen Publishing
Challies, T. & Byers, J. (2001). Visual Theology. Zondervan
Evans, R. E. (2018). Inspired: Slaying giants, walking on water, and loving the bible again. Thomas Nelson
Lutheran education Australia. Christian Studies Curriculum Framework. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.lutheran.edu.au/download/cscf-2015/?wpdmdl=1276&refresh=5d63cdef675bf1566821871
- Murdoch, K. (2006). Inquiry Learning- Journey through the Thinking Processes. Retrieved from: http://www.richardsonps.act.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/350519/inquirylearning.pdf
Murdoch, K. (2015) The Power of Inquiry: Teaching and learning with curiosity, creativity and purpose in the contemporary classroom