Overview
- This assignment should be completed after you have finished each module.
- You should submit this assignment by sending it to your Tutor.
- This assignment should be completed within 3 months of enrolling in the unit.

Instructions
- For each module, come up with 5 questions in total as a response to each module. Questions may be around what you (1) Feel are unanswered by the module (2) Subsequent areas you're interested in.
- You will receive 5% for 1 substantive response to Module 1 and 5% for 1 substantive response to Module 2.

Overview
- This assignment should be completed after reviewing the content of Module 1.
- You should submit this assignment by sending it to your Tutor.
- This assignment should be completed within 3 months of enrolling in the unit.

Instructions
-In at least 400 words respond to 1 of the following questions:

Q.1 What are the similarities & differences (if any) beetween the conceptualisations of God in the Old & New Testaments. You may draw on the contemporary differences between current Christian and Jewish thought to support your argument.

Q.2 Using the 6 resources in the Introduction to Module 1, what conclusions can be made about God's nature and how he interacts with humankind?

Overview
- This assignment should be completed after reviewing the content of both modules.
- You should submit this assignment by sending it to your Tutor.
- This assignment should be completed within 3 months of enrolling in the unit.

Instructions
-In at least 500 words respond to the following question:

Q: Who is God from a christian perspective?

Estimated time to complete module: 1hr 30mins

Christianity began as a sect of Judaism and much of its foundations flow from Jewish ideas of who and what God is. The Hebrew scriptures (the old testament) record a number of thoughts and understandings of who the God of the Jews is. Jesus, the apostles and the early Christians added to this understanding and recording their understanding in the books and letters of the New Testament.

This introduction looks at the how God is explained in the old and new testaments. These are some excerpts to demonstrate the views of the biblical writers.

Resource 1 - Video - 'Word Study: YHWH - 'Lord' - The Bible Project

Resource 2 - Reading - Exodus 3 - Account at the burning bush where God recounts his relationships with Israel.

Resource 3 - Reading - Exodus 34 - Account of the exchange between God & Moses with God describing aspect of his nature.

Resource 4 - Reading - Psalm 34 - A psalm attributed to David of how God helps the righteous and those who are struggling.

Resource 5 - Reading - Luke 15:11-32 - Parable of the Prodigal Son. Describes Gods care for his children.

Resource 6 - Reading - 1 Corinthians 8:6 - Pauls understanding of God.

Christianity, like the other Abrahamic religions, which are Judaism, Christianity & Islam, teaches monotheism which is the belief in one God and opposed to many Gods which is polytheism. Christianity differs from the other Abrahamic religions for its belief that God is a Trinity. Resource 1, from the Bible Project, seeks to explain Trinitarianism as it relates to how Christians view God. The Nicene Creed is a foundational Christian text which established trinitarianism as the orthodox christian standard of God.

Resource 1: Video - God - The Bible Project
This video looks at the trinitarian nature of God.

Resource 2: The Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed was adopted at the Council of Nicea in AD 325 and alongside the Apostles Creed, is considered a foundational Christian text and one of the earliest Statements of Faith. Whilst records vary, around 300 bishops of the 1800 that were invited attended with only 5 coming from the Western Church. The Nicene Creed was agreed to among the backdrop of the 'Arian Controversy'. Arius 'emphasized the supremacy and uniqueness of God the Father, meaning that the Father alone is almighty and infinite, and that therefore the Father's divinity must be greater than the Son's. Arius taught that the Son had a beginning, and that he possessed neither the eternity nor the true divinity of the Father, but was rather made "God" only by the Father's permission and power, and that the Son was rather the very first and the most perfect of God's creatures.' (Wikipedia). The Bishops present at the Council voted overwhelminghly in favour of the Trinitarian view, that Jesus was fully God and co-equal with the father and the spirit, and codified it within the creed. As such, the Nicene Creed has stood as a general test of orthodoxy for most Christians throughout history. Read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea#Arguments_for_Arianism

Despite the vast majority of Christian denominations holding the Trinity as their theological perspective on the nature of God, there is a minority of groups in the Christian tradition who hold to non-trinitarian positions. The 2 most prominent are Biblical Unitarianism and Modalism.

Biblical Unitarianism
(From Wikipedia) Biblical unitarianism encompasses the key doctrines of nontrinitarian Christians who affirm the Bible as their sole authority, and from it base their beliefs that God the Father is a singular being, the only one God, and that Jesus Christ is God’s son, but not divine.

Historical Groups: Nazarenes, Ebionites, Socinians, Unitarian church (before merger with Universalists to become the Unitarian Universalists).
Current Groups: Church of God General Conference, Spirit & Truth Fellowship, Christadelphains, Iglesia Ni Cristo, Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith.

Resource 1 - Video - 'What Does the Bible Say About God?' - Spirit & Truth Fellowship - Biblical Unitarianism perspective.

Modalism
(From Wikipedia) Modalistic Monarchianism (also known as Oneness Christology) is a Christian theology that upholds the oneness of God as well as the deity of Jesus Christ. It is a form of Monarchianism and as such stands in contrast with Trinitarianism. Modalistic Monarchianism considers God to be one while working through the different "modes" or "manifestations" of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Following this view, all the Godhead is understood to have dwelt in Jesus Christ from the incarnation. The terms Father and Son are then used to describe the distinction between the transcendence of God and the incarnation (God in immanence). Lastly, since God is a spirit, it is held that the Holy Spirit should not be understood as a separate entity but rather to describe God in action. Modalistic Monarchians believe in the deity of Jesus and understand Jesus to be a manifestation of Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament, in the flesh. For this reason they find it suitable to ascribe all worship appropriate to God alone to Jesus also.

Current Groups: Oneness Pentecostalism

Resource 2 - Video - 'What is Modalism' - New Life of Albany Ga.

Jewish View - Comparative Piece

Resource 3 - Video - A Rabbi Speaks of the Jewish Understanding of God - Rabbi Dweck - Jewish Wisdom - J-TV. Think of the similarities and differences this has to the Trinitarian, Biblical Unitarian and Modalist understandings of God in the Christian tradition.

Estimated time to complete module: 3hrs

This lecture series is delivered by Dr. Tim Mackie when he was a teaching Pastor at Door of Hope Church in Portland, Oregon. Tim is a Professor of Biblical Studies at Western Seminary and co-founder of The Bible Project where he is a theologian, writer and creative director.

This series explores who God is and what this means for us as Chrisitans. This highly fun, highly informative series will give us a deeper understanding of who God is in the Christian tradition and well as touch on a number of theological areas.

Lecture 1: Video - Communion of Love - I Am Who I Am - Tim Mackie from The Bible Project

Lecture 2: Video - Yahweh is Our God - I Am Who I Am - Tim Mackie from The Bible Project

Lecture 3: Video - Yahweh Our Gracious Judge - I Am Who I Am - Tim Mackie from The Bible Project