Is All High Christology Necessarily Orthodox?
One of the classic, and seemingly never-ending, debates among New Testament scholars is whether Jesus’s earliest followers viewed him as fully divine, and (perhaps more importantly), whether Jesus viewed himself as fully divine. Some scholars say yes to both, some say no to both, and some are mixed.
In fact, I will be speaking on the subject of early Christology at The Gospel Coalition’s National Conference on April 23. My friend Scott Swain and I are tag-teaming the breakout session for Reformed Theological Seminary. He is speaking on the Names of God in the OT, and I am speaking on “Is Jesus the God of the Bible? High Christology … Continue reading...
Thankful for Larry W. Hurtado
Well, it’s Thanksgiving Day, 2021. And there’s much to be thankful for this year, like any other year. But, I want to take a moment to remember my friend, mentor and Doktorvater, Larry W. Hurtado. After all, today marks the two-year anniversary of his passing (Nov 25th, 2019).
While most of the readers of this blog will be familiar with Larry and his scholarship, just a quick word for those who are not. Larry retired in 2011 from his post as Professor of New Testament, Language, Literature, and Theology at the University of Edinburgh (where he had served since 1996). Prior to that time, he was a professor … Continue reading...
Was the Divinity of Jesus a Late Invention of the Council of Nicea?
One of the most common objections to Christianity is that the divinity of Jesus was “created” by later Christians long after the first century. No one in primitive Christianity believed Jesus was divine, we are told. He was just a man and it was later believers, at the council of Nicea, that declared him to be a God.
A classic example of this in popular literature can be found in the book The Da Vinci Code:
“My dear,” Teabing declared, “until that moment in history [council of Nicea], Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet… a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal.” … Continue reading...
How on Earth Did Jesus Become God?
Two weeks ago, I posted my tribute to Larry Hurtado upon his death from a long bout with cancer. Since, others have offered tributes as well, including those by Chris Keith, Greg Lanier, Tommy Wasserman, John Stackhouse, Helen Bond, Michael Bird, as well as by Larry’s own Doktorvater, Eldon Epp.
In addition, I have received a number of inquiries about how to get a quick introduction to Larry’s work, especially his contributions on early Christology. After all, his Lord Jesus Christ is a bit lengthy for a quick overview of his arguments. So, let me recommend his briefer volume, How on Earth … Continue reading...
Hello, My Name is God
Did Jesus think he was God?
This may be one of the most common questions people ask about early Christology. And it reflects a long-standing scholarly debate about Jesus’s own divine consciousness. Even if other people thought Jesus was divine, did Jesus himself think so?
A number of years ago, Bart Ehrman jumped into the fray of these debates over early Christology in his book, How Jesus Became God (HarperOne, 2014). And he addressed this question about Jesus’ divine self-awareness.
Not surprisingly, Ehrman argued that Jesus never thought of himself as God. Leaning on his earlier book, Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium (Oxford, 2001), he says that Jesus … Continue reading...