Jesus and YHWH-Texts in the Synoptic Gospels

Jesus and YHWH-Texts in the Synoptic Gospels
Author: Scott Brazil
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2024-02-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567713962

Scott Brazil examines the frequent practice of applying Old Testament YHWH-texts to Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels. He argues that this YHWH-text phenomenon evidences a high Christology in the primitive church that traces back to Jesus himself. He thus finds in this Synoptic practice a stinging contradiction against the modern critical theory that a high Christology took many decades to develop in the early church and exists only in John among the canonical Gospels. Brazil surveys the Synoptic Gospels in canonical order, exegeting dozens of passages in which OT texts originally referring to YHWH are either clearly or most probably applied to Jesus. He observes the frequency, diversity, and ubiquity of the practice, as well as its wide range of OT source material and its parallel to the NT practice of applying OT messianic texts to Jesus. And from the data he offers several ramifications, including the early deliberate employment of YHWH-texts to Jesus, the likelihood that Jesus is the source of the practice, the high Christology of the Synoptics, and the redemptive-historical metanarrative that Jesus is the divine interpreter and central figure of the Jewish Scriptures. Ultimately, Brazil argues that understanding the prolific application of OT YHWH-texts to Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels cannot be neglected without truncating genuine NT Christology.

A Man Attested by God

A Man Attested by God
Author: Kirk
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 656
Release: 2016
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0802867952

Thought-provoking alternative perspective on the full humanity of Jesus Christ In A Man Attested by God J. R. Daniel Kirk presents a comprehensive defense of the thesis that the Synoptic Gospels present Jesus not as divine but as an idealized human figure. Counterbalancing the recent trend toward early high Christology in such scholars as Richard Bauckham, Simon Gathercole, and Richard Hays, Kirk here thoroughly unpacks the humanity of Jesus as understood by Gospel writers whose language is rooted in the religious and literary context of early Judaism. Without dismissing divine Christologies out of hand, Kirk argues that idealized human Christology is the best way to read the Synoptic Gospels, and he explores Jesus as exorcist and miracle worker within the framework of his humanity. With wide-ranging exegetical and theological insight that sheds startling new light on familiar Gospel texts, A Man Attested by God offers up-to-date, provocative scholarship that will have to be reckoned with.

Echoes of a Prophet

Echoes of a Prophet
Author: Gary T. Manning Jr.
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2004-12-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567639282

Echoes of a Prophet examines intertextual connections to Ezekiel found in John and in Second Temple literature. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain many allusions to a number of Ezekiel's oracles, while other Second Temple works refer to only a few of Ezekiel's oracles, and those only rarely. In each case, Manning examines the evidence for the presence of the allusions, studies the implied interpretational methods, and comments on the function of the allusion in advancing the author's ideas. He also analyzes John's allusions to Ezekiel: the good shepherd, the vine, the opened heavens, imagery from the "dry bones" vision, and water symbolism. He observes that John has a few unique tendencies: he alludes to all five of Ezekiel's "oracles of hope" and primarily uses that imagery to describe the giving of the Holy Spirit and new life through Jesus.

Mama Bear ApologeticsTM

Mama Bear ApologeticsTM
Author: Hillary Morgan Ferrer
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2019-06-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0736976167

*Foreword written by Nancy Pearcey* "Parents are the most important apologists our kids will ever know. Mama Bear Apologetics will help you navigate your kids’ questions and prepare them to become committed Christ followers.” —J. Warner Wallace "If every Christian mom would apply this book in her parenting, it would profoundly transform the next generation." —Natasha Crain #RoarLikeAMother The problem with lies is they don’t often sound like lies. They seem harmless, and even sound right. So what’s a Mama Bear to do when her kids seem to be absorbing the culture’s lies uncritically? Mama Bear Apologetics™ is the book you’ve been looking for. This mom-to-mom guide will equip you to teach your kids how to form their own biblical beliefs about what is true and what is false. Through transparent life stories and clear, practical applications—including prayer strategies—this band of Mama Bears offers you tools to train yourself, so you can turn around and train your kids. Are you ready to answer the rallying cry, “Mess with our kids and we will demolish your arguments”? Join the Mama Bears and raise your voice to protect your kids—by teaching them how to think through and address the issues head-on, yet with gentleness and respect.

How Jesus Became God

How Jesus Became God
Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2014-03-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0062252194

New York Times bestselling author and Bible expert Bart Ehrman reveals how Jesus’s divinity became dogma in the first few centuries of the early church. The claim at the heart of the Christian faith is that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, God. But this is not what the original disciples believed during Jesus’s lifetime—and it is not what Jesus claimed about himself. How Jesus Became God tells the story of an idea that shaped Christianity, and of the evolution of a belief that looked very different in the fourth century than it did in the first. A master explainer of Christian history, texts, and traditions, Ehrman reveals how an apocalyptic prophet from the backwaters of rural Galilee crucified for crimes against the state came to be thought of as equal with the one God Almighty, Creator of all things. But how did he move from being a Jewish prophet to being God? In a book that took eight years to research and write, Ehrman sketches Jesus’s transformation from a human prophet to the Son of God exalted to divine status at his resurrection. Only when some of Jesus’s followers had visions of him after his death—alive again—did anyone come to think that he, the prophet from Galilee, had become God. And what they meant by that was not at all what people mean today. Written for secular historians of religion and believers alike, How Jesus Became God will engage anyone interested in the historical developments that led to the affirmation at the heart of Christianity: Jesus was, and is, God.

Can We Trust the Bible on the Historical Jesus?

Can We Trust the Bible on the Historical Jesus?
Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Total Pages: 114
Release: 2020-09-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1646980018

This book features a learned and fascinating debate between two great Bible scholars about the New Testament as a reliable source on the historical Jesus. Bart Ehrman, an agnostic New Testament scholar, debates Craig Evans, an evangelical New Testament scholar, about the historical Jesus and what constitutes "history." Their interaction includes such compelling questions as: What are sound methods of historical investigation? What are reliable criteria for determining the authenticity of an ancient text? What roles do reason and inference play? And, of course, interpretation? Readers of this debate—regardless of their interpretive inclinations and biases—are sure to find some confirmation of their existing beliefs, but they will surely also find an honest and well-informed challenge to the way they think about the historical Jesus. The result? A more open, better informed, and questioning mind, which is better prepared for discovering both truth and contrivance. The debate between Ehrman and Evans along with Stewart's introductory framework make this book an excellent primer to the study of the historical Jesus, and readers will come away with a deeper appreciation for the ongoing quest for the historical Jesus.

Christological Rereading of the Shema (Deut 6.4) in Mark's Gospel

Christological Rereading of the Shema (Deut 6.4) in Mark's Gospel
Author: John J. R. Lee
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2020-11-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3161528077

In Mark's Gospel, the Shema language of Deut 6.4 is not merely reiterated in a traditional sense but reinterpreted in a striking way that links Jesus directly and inseparably with Israel's unique God. Such an innovative rereading of the Shema must be understood in light of (a) various elements involved in and surrounding each of the three monotheistic references (Mark 2.7; 10.18; 12.29) relating to their respective literary contexts, and (b) Mark's nuanced, complex, and even paradoxical portrait of Jesus' relationship to God throughout his gospel. John J.R. Lee shows that Mark's use of the one-God language implies that his Jesus is not merely one who, as a Shema-observant Jew, speaks on behalf of God but also one whose status and significance fundamentally correspond to those of Israel's unique deity.

The Messianic Kingship of Jesus

The Messianic Kingship of Jesus
Author: Sungho Choi
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2011-10-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1621890643

Identification of the Royal Psalms by Herman Gunkel indicates that the history and genre of the Royal Psalms must be distinguished from the Enthronement Psalms that are written to celebrate Yahweh's Kingship from those written to celebrate Davidic kingship. In reference to this, Joachim Becker argues against the presence of messianic Davidic Psalms in the Old Testament and posits that the initial hope in Davidic kingship died out during the exilic period and consequently centered Israelite faith in Yahweh alone. It may thus be concluded that Yahweh's Kingship effaces the place of the Davidic Messiah. Against this claim, The Messianic Kingship of Jesus argues that the early Christian use of Psalm quotations in particular suggest that the Royal and Enthronement Psalms were viewed as one entity which suggests that Yahweh's reign and Davidic kingship in Jewish-Christian thinking were not antagonistic but mutually complementary. Within the synoptic tradition, Matthew's emphasis on Davidic heritage supports this notion as he applies 'Son of David' to the 'Son of God' and also 'Son of Man.' Therein lies 'paradoxical tension' in the use of the old Jewish Scripture as early Christians, on the one hand, sought to preserve their Jewish legacy but, on the other, creatively employed the Old Testament to support their christological message and the divine attributes of Jesus expressed in the Gospel. The entire process of quotation by Matthew generates one of the major characteristics of Judeo-Christian religiosity; namely, the manifestation of divine redemptive activity in the history of Israel.

Studies on the Origin of Divine and Resurrection Christology

Studies on the Origin of Divine and Resurrection Christology
Author: Andrew Ter Ern Loke
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2023-08-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1666743372

The origin and development of divine and resurrection Christologies are among the most important and controversial issues in the study of Christianity. One reason why there is a lack of consensus among scholars—even though they have access to the same historical material—is that different scholars analyze the material differently. Building upon his previous monographs The Origin of Divine Christology (Cambridge University Press, 2017) and Investigating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Routledge, 2020), Andrew Loke demonstrates the fallacies of reasoning in the analyses of the works of numerous scholars such as Bart Ehrman, Paula Fredriksen, David Litwa, Richard Carrier, Raphael Lataster, Daniel Kirk, Matthew Larsen, and Dale Allison. Loke defends his proposal that a sizeable group of earliest Christians perceived that Jesus claimed and showed himself to be truly divine and resurrected, and replies to objections to his previous works. He contributes to the discussion on ancient Jewish monotheism, exalted mediator figures, comparison with Greco-Roman literature, Jesus-mythicism, Markan Christology, the historical reliability of the New Testament, as well as the use of philosophical and theological categories and the use of psychological studies on parallel apparitions, cognitive dissonance, mass hysteria, pareidolia, and memory for the study of early Christology.

Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity

Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2020-08-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004438084

Matthew V. Novenson, ed., Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity is a collection of state-of-the-art essays by leading scholars on views of God, Christ, and other divine beings in ancient Jewish, Christian, and classical texts.