Origins of New Testament Christology

2018

T HE present study is intended to be an entirely objective examination of the origin of what may be called the "Son Christologies" in the NT-Son of David, Son of God, the Son-as seen against the background of the OT. These Christologies are of the greater interest in that they are held by some to have originated in the mind of the founder of Christianity himself. How far this may be true, and in what sense, it is the purpose of this paper to re-examine. The Son of Man, while not the subject of special and separate study here, belongs to another category of what may be called "intercessory" or "sacrificial" Christologies-the Servant of the Lord, the High Priest-and it serves as the focus of the Christologies to be discussed in this paper.

Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism, 2019

This study argues that there is a tradition, arising from a ‘Jewish milieu’, based around the exegesis of select biblical passages, indicating that the messiah bears the Divine Name. This tradition appears to predate the Christian movement, and is referenced also in rabbinic literature. In the first section we highlight a tradition regarding the relationship between the Name of God and the messiah, the righteous and Jerusalem, a tradition which is shared by the Talmud and the New Testament book of Revelation. The next section will look at the pre-existence of the messiah’s name, which appears to be known by several groups in the early centuries of the Common Era. The fact that several different groups share this tradition points to the existence of an important idea which may be independent of each of these specific manifestations, whether Enochic, rabbinic or Christian, as this tradition was common across several Jewish sects in Late Antiquity.

Annales Theologici, 2024

The Jewish traditions about the Word of God play a central role in the development of early Christology. By examining Philo of Alexandria's Logos and the Targumim's Memra, this article aims to illustrate the interplay between continuity and discontinuity of New Testament Divine Christology within its Jewish context. Within a frame of overarching continuity, the Incarnation introduces a genuine novelty, reshaping established notions about the Word. The radical nature of this novelty demands a historical explanation. Further studies could explore the correlation between historical events and the development of these ideas.

Journal of Biblical Literature, 2008

1 To avoid obvious anachronisms in referring to early conceptions of Jesus, I use "prophet typology" rather than "prophet christology. " There are nevertheless trajectories from early conceptions to later confessions, and I do not want to convey the idea of early conceptions as "protochristologies" in the sense of being somehow insufficient or by necessity temporary in comparison with later developments.

2012

Note: This is my M.A. thesis from my time at the University of Georgia. During the formative years of Christian thought, little is known concerning what people believed due to a lack of information concerning what the church definitively taught. Because of this, there exist divergent views concerning what views were held from the beginning and how they evolved. My thesis hopes to contribute to this discussion with respect to Jesus' inclusion within the divine identity by focusing on three authors in particular,​ Paul, Mark, and John, with the hope of showing that substantial continuity exists in their basic portrayal of Jesus' relation to the one God of Israel. This will be accomplished by showing that there is continuity between all three in their use of Scripture, specifically their use of Scriptural allusions, particularly those to Isaiah and the Shema. I also examine the subordination language in these texts to show that there is a consensus view of Jesus in the New Testament.

This essay attempts an exegesis of some of the key Christological texts in the Epistle to the Hebrews in order to sketch the author’s Christology. The challenging introductory questions relating to the Epistle’s composition are largely avoided; the exegetical method instead focuses on context, grammar and syntax, and intertextuality. Competing scholarly viewpoints are presented and weighed. Particular emphasis is placed on the exordium (Hebrews 1:1-4), the catena of scriptural quotations (Hebrews 1:5-14), the discussion of Christ’s humanity (Hebrews 2:6-18), the comparison of Christ with Moses (Hebrews 3:1-6), and the enigmatic comparison of Christ with Melchizedek (Hebrews 7). Other Christologically significant texts discussed more briefly include Hebrews 4:15-16, Hebrews 5:7-9, Hebrews 9:15-16, Hebrews 10:5-10, and Hebrews 13:8. The conclusion drawn from the study is that the author of Hebrews regarded Jesus as the pre-existent, divine Son of God who became incarnate to deal with sin and was exalted by God for his faithfulness unto death. By its dual emphasis on Christ’s divinity and humanity, Hebrews provides the raw materials for later Chalcedonian orthodoxy, although it does not develop these concepts or attempt to resolve the tension between them.