1. Religion 10 We learn in SILENCE both in school and at home Today we’ll look at the three main questions addressed by this course

2. Who was the Jesus of History? Why was this man, Jesus, the Crucified one, so quickly recognized by the early Christians as the Christ of Faith, the anointed one sent by God to free them from all evil? How did the Church come to recognize that Jesus was not only the Christ or Messiah awaited by the Jews, but was and is the divine Son of God, “one in being with the Father,” who offers salvation to all humanity?

3. How did Jesus differ from the life and role of Moses and Mohammed? Christianity is a “thinking person’s” religion: it forces you to think about faith and to confront how you use religion in you daily life

4. Keeping up with the reading in this course is critical: if you fall behind you may never catch up. Whether it’s reading, studying, thinking, or reviewing PowerPoint’s on my Weblog, you need to study a least 15 minutes a night: you CANNOT effectively study the night before a test!!!!

5. Jesus said “Who do you say that I am?” “Cogito ergo sum”: “I think, therefore I am” by Rene Descartes in 1637. The simple meaning of the phrase is that someone wondering whether or not he exists is, in and of itself, proof that he does exist – at the very least, there must be an "I" who does the thinking. Jesus asks us to consider not only our own existence but His unique existence.

6. No other known person in history has ever challenged his followers to question – to think about – who He is!!! Go to video segment “THE GREATEST QUESTION EVER ASKED” Jesus wanted people to understand that He was the fulfillment of God’s covenant (a sacred promise) made to Israel on Mt. Sinai

7. Who is this man? Read together the section entitled “No Time to Mourn” on page 8 Before His resurrection he was referred to as: teacher, rabbi or prophet After His resurrection He is called Lord, Redeem, the Christ or Son of God

8. Historical, non-faith, Sources Josephus – the Jewish historian Tacitus - wrote the history of Neros’ fire Pliny the Younger – A Roman governor Suetonius – Compiled bibliographies of several Roman Emperors

9. *** End of Lecture #1 *** Extended