2. Jesus_s_Divine_Identity.mp4
2. Christological_Monotheism.mp4
2. Jewish_Monotheism_Included_Jesus_Instantly.m4a
This topic argues that New Testament Christology deliberately integrates Jesus into the unique divine identity of the God of Israel, a concept rooted in Second Temple Jewish monotheism. Jewish monotheism defined God's uniqueness by two key features: being the sole Creator of all things and the sole Ruler of all things, which logically demanded exclusive worship (monolatry). The author posits that the New Testament employs these exact criteria—inclusion in sovereignty, creation, and the divine name, as well as receiving worship—as a hermeneutical key to establish a christological monotheism that views Jesus Christ as intrinsic to God's unique identity, a development that, though radical, was fully compatible with Jewish monotheistic understanding and not a move toward subordinate demigods. This framework challenges traditional categories like 'functional' versus 'ontic' Christology, asserting that Jesus's inclusion in God's identity is the highest possible Christology.
It’s a common assumption that the Christian belief in Jesus’s divinity was a late invention. The story often told is that the earliest followers of Jesus saw him as a human messiah, and only over decades—or even centuries—did this view evolve into the high-flying theology of the councils, creating a deep and problematic tension with Christianity’s Jewish monotheistic roots. How could the followers of a faith built on the absolute oneness of God suddenly proclaim a man to be divine?
Recent scholarship, however, has powerfully challenged this entire narrative. A closer look at the New Testament texts, read through the lens of the Second Temple Jewish world they inhabited, reveals a surprising and sophisticated understanding of Jesus right from the beginning. Instead of being an obstacle to overcome, Jewish monotheism provided the very framework the earliest Christians used to articulate the highest possible view of Jesus by including him within the unique divine identity of the God of Israel.
This article will explore four surprising takeaways from this scholarship that reshape our understanding of what the very first Christians believed about Jesus Christ.
The conventional wisdom suggests that the understanding of Jesus evolved over time, starting simple and becoming progressively more “divine” as the church moved further from its Jewish origins. This theory posits a gradual development, where a human teacher was slowly elevated to the status of God.