Source: Crispin Fletcher-Louis, Jesus Monotheism: Christological Origins: The Emerging Consensus and Beyond, vol. 1 (Eugene, OR: Whymanity Publishing, 2019), 3–30.
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This topic explores the emerging consensus in New Testament Christology, which argues for the remarkably early date and divine character of belief in Jesus’ divinity—a “high Christology”—dating back to the first years or even months of the post-Easter movement. Key scholars like Larry W. Hurtado and Richard Bauckham have championed this view, moving beyond older theories that saw a high Christology as a late development influenced by Greco-Roman thought. The argument is anchored on two main pillars: the concept of "Christological monotheism," exemplified by Paul’s reinterpretation of the Shema in 1 Corinthians 8:6 to include Jesus, and the robust evidence of cultic devotion to Christ, including prayer, hymns, and prostration, which strongly suggests that the earliest Jewish Christians included Jesus within the unique identity of the one God. While Hurtado attributes this profound shift primarily to powerful revelatory experiences of the exalted Jesus, Bauckham emphasizes the importance of the historical life of Jesus and the early Christian interpretation of scripture as the cause for this unprecedented transformation of Jewish monotheism.
For generations, a familiar story about the origins of Christianity has held sway. The common assumption was that the belief in Jesus's divinity was a late development, a theological idea that evolved slowly over decades, if not centuries. This "old story" suggested that Jesus's earliest followers saw him as a prophet or messiah—a special human being, but a human nonetheless. The idea of him being divine, the theory went, came much later, perhaps as the faith spread into the Greco-Roman world and became influenced by pagan religions with their pantheons of gods and demigods.
But in the world of New Testament scholarship, an exciting and radically different picture is taking shape. A "newly emerging consensus" among leading scholars is turning that old timeline on its head. This new understanding argues that a "high Christology"—the belief in Jesus's divine nature and identity—was not a late-stage evolution but an explosive feature of the Christian movement right from its inception. It suggests this belief was present in the earliest years, perhaps even the first months, after Jesus's death.
This article unpacks five of the most surprising and impactful findings from this scholarly shift, revealing a faith that was redefined from day one.
1. It Happened Almost Overnight, Not Over Decades