Source: Crispin Fletcher-Louis, Jesus Monotheism: Christological Origins: The Emerging Consensus and Beyond, vol. 1 (Eugene, OR: Whymanity Publishing, 2019), 3–30.
4. Critiquing_Christological_Monotheism_Origins.m4a
This scholarly excerpt discusses the problematic question of how Christological monotheism—the belief that Jesus is genuinely worthy of worship while maintaining belief in one God—originated in early Christianity. The author critiques two leading scholars, Hurtado and Bauckham, arguing they fail to recognize adequate precedents in pre-Christian Judaism for the unique devotion given to Jesus. Specifically, the text highlights weaknesses in Hurtado’s theory that religious experiences were the decisive cause of Christ devotion, noting the surprising lack of opposition to early Christology in the New Testament texts, which suggests the innovation was not as radical as often proposed. Finally, the author challenges explanations based on Psalm 110:1 or the idea of theological consistency to account for Christ's role as the agent of creation, concluding that a new paradigm is needed to fully explain the emergence of this complex set of beliefs.
At the core of Christian origins lies a historical puzzle of the highest order. A group of first-century, monotheistic Jews, raised to believe in the singular, indivisible identity of God, began to worship one of their own: Jesus of Nazareth. This development represents one of the most significant and radical shifts in the history of religion, a theological mutation that reshaped the world.
The central question is not that it happened—the evidence for this early "Christ devotion" is strong—but how it happened. For decades, an "emerging consensus" among New Testament scholars, championed by figures like Larry Hurtado and Richard Bauckham, has offered explanations. Yet a closer look at the historical and textual evidence reveals surprising puzzles that challenge these standard narratives. This article will explore five of the most compelling puzzles that emerge from a critical examination of the evidence, suggesting the story of Christian origins is far more complex than we often assume.
A common scholarly argument holds that the worship of Jesus was unique and had no real precedent in pre-Christian Judaism. The claim is that Jews simply did not treat their prophets, kings, or messianic figures in the way the earliest Christians treated Jesus.
However, this argument for total uniqueness is problematic. While it is true that the complete pattern of Christian worship was new, this perspective tends to dismiss a wealth of Jewish texts suggesting that messianic and other exalted figures were already being thought of in ways that anticipated Christian beliefs about Jesus. These include texts that explore the idea of a "divine" messiah, the potential influence of Greco-Roman ruler cults on Jewish thought, and even traditions where angels were said to worship Adam.