Was Jesus only a teacher of wisdom and moral example, a political liberator, or the divine Son of God, and how do his divinity and humanity relate?
Component 03 The person of Jesus Christ: Jesus as teacher of wisdom, as liberator, and as the Son of God, the relationship of his divinity and humanity, and the significance of miracles and the resurrection.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to the person of Jesus Christ. Covers Jesus as teacher of wisdom, as liberator, and as the Son of God, the relationship of his divinity and humanity, and the significance of his miracles and resurrection, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
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What this dot point is asking
OCR Component 03 examines the person of Jesus Christ: who Jesus was and how he should be understood. Three models are studied: Jesus as teacher of wisdom (and moral example), as liberator, and as the Son of God (divine). You also study how his divinity and humanity relate, and the significance of his miracles and resurrection. This is a question of Christology, treated academically: the task is to weigh the readings, not to confess one. The exam rewards explaining the models precisely and then evaluating which best fits the evidence.
The answer
Jesus as teacher of wisdom
Jesus as liberator
Jesus as the Son of God
Divinity and humanity, miracles and resurrection
Examples in context
Try this
Q1. "Jesus is best understood as the Son of God, not merely a teacher or liberator." Discuss. [40 marks]
- What the marker wants. An AO2 essay weighing the teacher, liberator and Son of God models, judging whether the miracles, resurrection and divine claims warrant the divine reading or whether a human reading is more defensible. AO1 out of 25, AO2 out of 15.
Q2. Assess whether Jesus's miracles are essential to Christian belief about who he was. [40 marks]
- Cue. Miracles confirm divinity for believers but are read as symbol or legend by sceptics. Weigh whether Christian claims about Jesus stand or fall with the miracles, and judge.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR H573/03 2018 (style)20 marksAssess the view that Jesus was no more than a teacher of wisdom. (The full OCR tariff for this essay is 40 marks; the worked answer below is scaled to a 20-mark exemplar.)Show worked answer →
A 40-mark Component 03 essay on the six-level scheme (AO1 out of 25, AO2 out of 15). Explaining the views earns AO1; the higher levels reward judging the "teacher only" claim.
Explain (AO1). As teacher of wisdom, Jesus taught moral and spiritual insight (the Sermon on the Mount, the parables, the call to love God and neighbour). As liberator, he challenged oppression and sided with the poor. As Son of God, the Gospels and the Church present him as divine, working miracles and rising from the dead.
Evaluate (AO2). For "teacher only": his ethical teaching stands regardless of divinity, and a non-divine reading fits a secular age. Against: the claims to forgive sins, the miracles and especially the resurrection point beyond a mere teacher; reducing him to wisdom ignores how the Gospels present him.
Judge. A top answer decides whether Jesus is best understood as teacher, liberator, Son of God, or some combination, and defends the verdict.
OCR H573/03 2022 (style)20 marksCritically assess the claim that Jesus is best understood as a political liberator. (The full OCR tariff for this essay is 40 marks; the worked answer below is scaled to a 20-mark exemplar.)Show worked answer →
A levels-of-response essay testing AO1 understanding of Jesus as liberator and AO2 evaluation of it.
Explain. The liberator reading stresses Jesus's challenge to injustice: siding with the poor and outcast, cleansing the temple, proclaiming good news to the oppressed (Luke 4). Liberation theology develops this into a call to free people from political and economic oppression.
Evaluate. Strengths: it recovers the social and prophetic edge of Jesus's ministry. Weaknesses: it can reduce a religious figure to a political one, downplay his spiritual teaching and claims to divinity, and selectively read texts; Jesus also refused the role of armed Messiah.
Judge. A high-level answer weighs whether the liberator reading captures or distorts who Jesus was, and reaches a justified conclusion.
Related dot points
- Component 03 Knowledge of God's existence: natural knowledge of God (reason, the world, the sensus divinitatis of Calvin), revealed knowledge (faith, grace, scripture, Christ), and Barth's rejection of natural theology.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to knowledge of God's existence. Covers natural knowledge of God through reason and the world and Calvin's sensus divinitatis, revealed knowledge through faith, grace, scripture and Jesus Christ, and Barth's rejection of natural theology, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
- Component 03 Augustine on human nature: the state before and after the Fall, original sin and concupiscence, the divided will, the summum bonum, and the necessity of God's grace, with strengths and weaknesses.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to Augustine on human nature. Covers human nature before and after the Fall, original sin and concupiscence, the divided will, the summum bonum, and the necessity of God's grace, with the strengths, weaknesses and AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
- Component 03 Death and the afterlife: heaven, hell and purgatory, particular and final judgement, the beatific vision, election (limited, unlimited and universalism), and the parable of the sheep and the goats, read literally or symbolically.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to death and the afterlife. Covers heaven, hell and purgatory, particular and final judgement, the beatific vision, election (limited, unlimited and universalism) and the parable of the sheep and the goats, with the literal and symbolic readings and the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
- Component 03 Liberation theology and Marx: the influence of Marx, structural sin, the preferential option for the poor, orthopraxis and base communities (Gutierrez), and Christian and Church responses to Marxism.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to liberation theology and Marx. Covers the influence of Marx, structural sin, the preferential option for the poor, orthopraxis and base communities in Gutierrez, and Christian and Church responses to the use of Marxist analysis, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
- Component 03 Christian moral action: Bonhoeffer on duty to God and the state, discipleship and the cost of discipleship, the role of the Church, civil disobedience, and the Confessing Church.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to Christian moral action through Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Covers duty to God and the state, discipleship and the cost of discipleship (cheap and costly grace), the role of the Church, civil disobedience and the Confessing Church, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR A Level Religious Studies (H573) specification — OCR (2016)
- The Gospel of Mark, World English Bible — Project Gutenberg (2005)