The Divine Christ: Paul, the Lord Jesus, and the Scriptures of Israel (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology)

by David B. Capes

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2018

Overview

For the past century, scholars have debated when and how a divine Christology emerged. This book considers the earliest evidence we have, the letters of Paul. David Capes, a veteran teacher and highly regarded scholar, examines Paul's letters to show how the apostle constructed his unique portrait of Jesus as divine through a rereading of Israel's Scriptures. This volume is ideal for courses on Paul, Christology, biblical theology, and intertextuality.

Key Features

• Insightful analysis of the the evidence for divine Christology in Paul's letters
• Adopts an interdisciplinary approach to construct a striking portrait of Jesus in Paul's writing
• Biblical theology from a veteran scholar and teacher

Contents

• “Lord” and “Lord” in the Bible
• Kyrios/Lord as a Christological Title
• Jesus as Kyrios in Paul's Letters
• YHWH Texts with God as Referent
• YHWH Texts with Jesus as Referent
• Pauline Exegesis and a High Christology

Top Highlights

“Early in the twentieth century Wilhelm Bousset argued that it was not until Christianity moved into a Hellenistic environment that the title kyrios (‘Lord’) would have been applied to Jesus.” (Page 21)

“Paul employs kyrios in a variety of ways. First, in a secular sense he uses the word for people who hold some kind of authority over others (‘masters’ over ‘slaves,’ Col. 3:22–24; ‘owner of the estate,’ Gal. 4:1). Second, he uses kyrios to refer to pagan gods and deities (1 Cor. 8:5). Although it is difficult to grasp Paul’s exact meaning, he clearly wants to contrast the many gods/many lords (kyrioi) worshiped by the majority with the one true God and the one true Lord, Jesus the Messiah.” (Page 48)

“Significant for Tilling is the way in which Christ’s relation to his people stands in direct continuity with YHWH’s relation to his people Israel. To put it another way, when Paul speaks about the relation between Christ believers and the risen Jesus, he uses the same language and themes found in Second Temple Jewish texts to speak of Israel’s relation to YHWH.” (Page 61)

“Based on evidence such as this, Bousset argues that Hellenistic culture, with its emperor cults, gods, and goddesses, provided the kind of setting in which it became not only possible but popular to invoke Jesus as kyrios and make him the cult figure of early Christanity. So kyrios was applied to Jesus first within, and only within, the environs of the Diaspora churches, where there were gods-a-plenty to be reverenced and served.” (Page 26)

“While kyrios serves as a christological title in nearly every part of Paul’s Letters, it appears most prominent in the hortatory sections. In dealing with matters relating to conduct and practices within his churches, the apostle tends to refer to Jesus as kyrios.” (Page 57)

Praise for the Print Edition

David Capes reprises his own foundational work on this topic and engages the converging approaches of other scholars. The result is a comprehensive and accessible account of Paul's understanding of Jesus Christ as fully divine.

—Richard Bauckham, emeritus professor of New Testament, University of St. Andrews, Scotland

Capes offers a brilliant examination of the meaning of 'Lord' in ancient Judaism, in modern scholarship, and in the Pauline Letters. What Capes demonstrates with acumen and insight is that Paul was among those who considered Jesus as Lord in the strongest possible sense, and the highest Christology we can imagine was indeed among the earliest. This erudite and learned volume is for anyone interested in the Christology of the early church."

—Michael F. Bird, lecturer in theology, Ridley College, Melbourne, Australia

Every generation of students has to struggle anew with complex questions regarding the status and nature of Christ in the New Testament and early Christian thought. Capes proves himself an expert guide through Paul's Letters, especially Paul's use of Old Testament texts that apply the divine title 'Lord' to Jesus. When Christians called Jesus 'Lord,' what did this mean? Did the first Christians consider Jesus divine? How did they conceive of the unique lordship of Jesus in relation to the one God? To this weighty subject Capes brings proven expertise, crystal clarity of expression, and penetrating analysis of interpretations past and present.

—Nijay K. Gupta, associate professor of New Testament, Portland Seminary

Product Details

• Title: The Divine Christ: Paul, the Lord Jesus, and the Scriptures of Israel
• Author: David B. Capes
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 224
• Resource Type: Monographs
• Topic: Biblical Theology

About David B. Capes

David B. Capes (PhD, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is professor of New Testament in the School of Christian Thought at Houston Baptist University, where he was founding dean of the Honors College. He has authored, coauthored or coedited books such as Rediscovering Paul, Old Testament Yahweh Texts in Paul's Christology, The Footsteps of Jesus in the Holy Land, The Last Eyewitness, Rebecca's Children, The Voice of Hebrews and The Voice of Romans. In addition to contributing to a number of dictionaries, encyclopedias and professional journals, he served as the lead scholar on a new Bible translation, The Voice Bible. Since the early 1990s, Capes has been active in interfaith dialogue in Houston and co-hosts a radio show called A Show of Faith on TALK RADIO 950 KPRC Houston. He has served as pastor of several churches and has participated in a variety of professional organizations, including the Society of Biblical Literature, the Institute for Biblical Research and the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion.