Source: Crispin Fletcher-Louis, Jesus Monotheism: Christological Origins: The Emerging Consensus and Beyond, vol. 1 (Eugene, OR: Whymanity Publishing, 2019), 3–30.
This podcast discusses a significant shift in how New Testament scholars understand early Christian beliefs about Jesus. It highlights an "emerging consensus" that a "high Christology" – the belief in Jesus's divinity and subsequent worship – originated much earlier than previously thought, going back to the first months of the movement. Key figures like Larry Hurtado and Richard Bauckham are presented as instrumental in establishing this view by demonstrating that early Christians included Jesus within the identity of the one God of Israel, as evidenced by their devotional practices and interpretations of scripture. While agreeing on the early dating and divine identity of Jesus, the podcast notes ongoing debate among scholars regarding the origins of this Christology, particularly whether powerful religious experiences (Hurtado) or the historical life of Jesus as recounted in the Gospels (Bauckham) were the primary catalyst.
The source material provides a detailed exploration of the study of New Testament Christology, focusing on a significant shift in scholarly understanding. It outlines and elaborates upon six major topics concerning the nature, dating, and origins of early Christian belief in Jesus' divinity.
1. An Emerging Consensus on Early Divine Christology: The text introduces a newly developing agreement among New Testament scholars that a "high Christology"—the belief that Jesus was somehow divine and treated as such by his followers—existed at a very early stage of the Christian movement, specifically in the period immediately following Jesus' death, potentially within the first months. This consensus challenges earlier, more traditional views that posited a gradual theological development leading to a high Christology much later, perhaps influenced by Hellenistic thought, starting with a "low" Christology where Jesus was seen simply as a prophet or messiah. Key scholars associated with this emerging consensus, such as Martin Hengel, Larry W. Hurtado, and Richard Bauckham, are mentioned as having significantly contributed to this shift.
2. Historical Scholarly Debate, Particularly Focusing on Paul: The source recounts the history of modern scholarship on New Testament Christology, using Pauline Christology as a central point of focus due to its early and datable evidence. It contrasts the emerging consensus with earlier influential paradigms. One major earlier view, associated with W. Bousset, explained the exalted language used for the risen Jesus and early "Christ devotion" as a result of Hellenistic influence, where Jewish monotheism was thought to have weakened, allowing for the worship of Jesus as a divine being akin to Greco-Roman divine heroes or deities. Another significant view, associated with James D. G. Dunn, argued that Pauline language seemingly suggesting preexistence and divinity was actually based on Jewish Wisdom traditions, interpreting Christ's identity in terms of God's own attributes rather than as a distinct divine person in a classic Trinitarian sense. Dunn contended that a classical incarnational Christology, where Jesus was seen as the incarnation of a distinct divine person, appeared later, climaxing in John's Gospel after a long developmental process. The emerging consensus, while agreeing with Dunn that Paul's thought is rooted in a Jewish context rather than Hellenism, disagrees that Jesus was merely a functional mediator or divine attribute; instead, it argues that Paul and the earliest Christians included Jesus fully and firmly within a monotheistic framework as a divine being from the very beginning.
3. "Christological Monotheism": Defining the Shape of Early Belief: A central concept of the emerging consensus is "Christological monotheism," also sometimes referred to as a "binitarian" or "dyadic" shape of Jewish monotheism. This topic explores how early Christians maintained belief in one God while simultaneously including Jesus within the identity of this single God. A key text discussed is 1 Corinthians 8:4-6, where Paul reworks the language of the Jewish Shema confession ("Hear, O Israel, the LORD/Yhwh our God, the LORD/Yhwh is One"). Paul posits "one God, the Father... from whom are all things" and "one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things." This passage uses the Greek term "Kyrios" for Jesus, the same term used in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) to translate the divine Hebrew name Yhwh. The text argues that this structure places Jesus squarely within the unique identity of Israel's one God, not as a separate deity, but somehow mysteriously included within the divine oneness. This inclusion is further supported by instances where Old Testament texts referring to Yhwh are applied to Jesus, and where Jesus is described using language and roles traditionally reserved for Yhwh, such as creative agency ("through whom are all things"), a unique sovereign position (at God's right hand, on God's throne, ruling over creation), and possessing the divine name (Phil 2:9-11, where Jesus is given the "name above all names" echoing Isaiah's description of Yhwh). The source notes that this "Christological monotheism" provides an explanation for various features of the New Testament texts and that grammatical phenomena in some passages (e.g., 1 Thess 3:11, Rev 11:15) using singular verbs or pronouns for God and Christ together may reflect a conscious effort to express this profound theological mystery of the divine oneness and twoness.
4. Cultic Devotion: Defining the Pattern of Worship and Practice: This topic details the evidence indicating that early Christians directed worship and devotional acts towards Jesus, a practice traditionally reserved exclusively for the one God in Jewish tradition. This "Christ cult" or "Christ devotion" is seen as going back to the earliest post-Easter community. The source, drawing on Hurtado's work and adding further evidence, lists seven categories of this devotion:
Prayer: Jesus is featured prominently as both a recipient of prayer and an agent through whom prayer is offered (e.g., Paul's prayer-wish passages invoking God and Jesus together, spontaneous personal prayers to Christ).
Invocation and Confession: Early Christians confessed and called upon the name of the Lord Jesus, a practice defining them and reflecting the biblical practice of calling upon Yhwh's name (e.g., "Marana tha" in Aramaic, Romans 10:9-13).
Baptism: This ritual is focused on Jesus, involving invocation of his name and identification with him.
The Lord's Supper: This meal, called the "Lord's Supper," is centered on Jesus, who is seen as the living Kyrios presiding over the meal and with whom believers have fellowship as with a god.
Hymns and Praise: Early Christian gatherings featured the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, including material celebrating Christ's identity and work (hymns about Christ). There is also evidence that hymns and praise were directed to Christ, implying he was acclaimed and worshipped in the same way as God (e.g., Acts, Ephesians, Colossians, doxologies).