From Messiah to Preexistent Son

From Messiah to Preexistent Son
Author: Aquila H. I. Lee
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 397
Release: 2009-08-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1606086308

How did the earliest Christians come to see Jesus as a divine and preexistent being alongside God? Aquila Lee proposes that the root of preexistent Son Christology is to be found in early Christian exegesis of the two messianic psalms (the catalyst) in the light of Jesus's self-consciousness of divine sonship and divine mission (the foundation).

The Preexistent Son

The Preexistent Son
Author: Simon J. Gathercole
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 357
Release: 2006-10-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0802829015

In this challenging book, rising New Testament scholar Simon Gathercole contradicts a commonly held view among biblical scholars -- that the Gospel of John is the only Gospel to give evidence for Jesus' heavenly identity and preexistence. The Preexistent Son demonstrates that Matthew, Mark, and Luke were also well aware that the Son of God existed with the Father prior to his earthly ministry. Gathercole supports his argument by considering the "I have come" sayings of Jesus and strikingly similar angelic sayings discovered in Second Temple and Rabbinic literature. Further, he considers related topics such as Wisdom Christology and the titles applied to Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels. Gathercole's carefully researched work should spark debate among Synoptic scholars and extend the understanding of anyone interested in this New Testament question.

From Messiah to Preexistent Son

From Messiah to Preexistent Son
Author: Aquila H. I. Lee
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2005
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9783161486166

Aquila H.I. Lee explores the development of early Christian understanding of Jesus as the preexistent Son of God. He first reviews recent attempts to explain the development as a result of the influence of Jewish angelology and similar speculations. In the second part he argues that neither the personification of various attributes of God, including wisdom, nor speculations about principal angels and a preexistent messiah in Second Temple Judaism ever provided a ready-made category for viewing Jesus as a divine and preexistent being alongside God. An examination of the Synoptic evidence for Jesus' self-consciousness of divine sonship and divine mission in the whole context of his life and teaching shows that his self-understanding was open to interpretation in terms of pre-existence. The author also examines the early Christian use of Pss 110:1 and 2:7 against this background. He proposes that the root of preexistent Son Christology is to be found in early Christian exegesis of these two messianic psalms (the catalyst) in the light of Jesus' self-consciousness of divine sonship and divine mission (the foundation). The tremendous impact left by the resurrection event and the resulting conception of Jesus literally enthroned to God's right hand led them to see Jesus as the preexistent Lord and Son of God. In the final part of this book Aquila Lee argues that the pre-Pauline 'sending' formula God sent his Son (Gal 4:4-5; Rom 8:3-4; Jn 3:16-17; and 1 Jn 4:9) derives from this understanding of Jesus as the preexistent Son of God rather than from divine wisdom christology.

King and Messiah as Son of God

King and Messiah as Son of God
Author: Adela Yarbro Collins
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2008-11-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 146742059X

This book traces the history of the idea that the king and later the messiah is Son of God, from its origins in ancient Near Eastern royal ideology to its Christian appropriation in the New Testament. Both highly regarded scholars, Adela Yarbro Collins and John J. Collins argue that Jesus was called “the Son of God” precisely because he was believed to be the messianic king. This belief and tradition, they contend, led to the identification of Jesus as preexistent, personified Wisdom, or a heavenly being in the New Testament canon. However, the titles Jesus is given are historical titles tracing back to Egyptian New Kingdom ideology. Therefore the title “Son of God” is likely solely messianic and not literal. King and Messiah as Son of God is distinctive in its range, spanning both Testaments and informed by ancient Near Eastern literature and Jewish noncanonical literature.

The Son of God

The Son of God
Author: Charles Lee Irons
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2015-12-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498224261

This is a multi-view book in which representatives of differing viewpoints make a positive statement of their case, followed by responses from the others, and concluding with a rebuttal by the original author. The topic at hand in this book is the identity of Jesus (also known as Christology). What is the meaning of Jesus's identity as "the Son of God"? Charles Lee Irons argues that the title "Son of God" denotes his ontological deity from a Trinitarian perspective. Danny Andre Dixon and Dustin R. Smith challenge this view from two different non-Trinitarian viewpoints. Smith argues that Jesus is the authentically human Son of God, the Davidic Messiah, who did not possess a literal preexistence prior to his virgin birth. Dixon argues that Jesus is God's preexistent Son in the sense that God gave him life or existence at some undefined point prior to creation. The authors engage the topic from the perspective that reverences the authority and inspiration of Scripture as the final arbiter of this debate. The literature of early Judaism is also engaged in order to try to understand the extent to which the New Testament's Christology may have been influenced by or operated within the context of Jewish conceptions of divine secondary beings as agents of God.

Putting Jesus in His Place

Putting Jesus in His Place
Author: Robert M. Bowman
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Total Pages: 198
Release:
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0825497450

Putting Jesus in His Place is designed to introduce Christians to the wealth of biblical teaching on the deity of Christ and give them the confidence to share the truth about Jesus with others.

Jesus the Eternal Son

Jesus the Eternal Son
Author: Michael F. Bird
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 171
Release: 2017-07-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1467447897

Adoptionism—the idea that Jesus is portrayed in the Bible as a human figure who was adopted as God's son at his baptism or resurrection—has been commonly accepted in much recent scholarship as the earliest explanation of Jesus's divine status. In this book Michael Bird draws that view into question with a thorough examination of pre-Pauline materials, the Gospel of Mark, and patristic sources. Engaging critically with Bart Ehrman, James Dunn, and other scholars, Bird demonstrates that a full-fledged adoptionist Christology did not emerge until the late second century. As he delves into passages often used to support the idea of an early adoptionist Christology, including Romans 1:3–4 and portions of the speeches in Acts, Bird persuasively argues that early Christology was in fact incarnational, not adoptionist. He concludes by surveying and critiquing notable examples of adoptionism in modern theology.

He Came Down from Heaven

He Came Down from Heaven
Author: Douglas McCready
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2005-10-10
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830827749

Douglas McCready reviews the evidence and arguments for and against the Christian claim of Jesus' prexistence and divine identity.

Use of the Third Person for Self-Reference by Jesus and Yahweh

Use of the Third Person for Self-Reference by Jesus and Yahweh
Author: Rod Elledge
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2017-06-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567671445

While an individual referring to themselves in the third person may sound unusual, this phenomenon (known as illeism) is consistently and extensively reflected in the direct speech of both Jesus and Yahweh. This in turn raises various questions: why are Jesus and Yahweh presented as speaking in such a manner? Who else employs illeism in the Bible? Does it occur in the Ancient Near Eastern texts, and, if so, who utilises it? And lastly, is there a relationship between the illeism as used by Yahweh, and the illeism as used by Jesus? Elledge addresses an issue in Biblical texts often neglects by scholarship: conducting an extensive survey of the use of illeism in the Bible and the Ancient Near Eastern Texts, and presenting evidence that this phenomenon, as used by Jesus, reflects both royal and divine themes that are apparent across several different religions and cultures. Through Elledge's examinations of illeism in Classical Antiquity, Ancient Near Eastern texts and the Old and New testament, this book provides a fresh perspective on the divine use of the third person, contributing substantial analysis to the on-going discussion of Jesus' divinity and self-understanding.

The Lord Jesus Christ

The Lord Jesus Christ
Author: Brandon D. Crowe
Publisher: Lexham Academic
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2023-10-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1683597176

Christ, our Redeemer Jesus is the divine Son of God who has taken on human nature in the incarnation. And as prophet, priest, and king, he leads his people in a new exodus. In The Lord Jesus Christ, Brandon D. Crowe reflects on Christ's person and work. Crowe traces christological concerns throughout the Old and New Testaments and church history and then presents systematic and practical implications. Through a combination of biblical, historical, and theological study, Crowe provides a fresh and robust statement of who Christ is and what he has done. Written from a confessionally Reformed perspective in dialogue with the great creeds of the church, The Lord Jesus Christ provides a thorough and trustworthy guide to understanding Jesus and his salvific work.