Sunday, October 2, 2022

Notes on New Testament Christology from John Behr (EO), Formation of Christian Theology, volume 1: On the Way to Nicaea

  

The divinity of Jesus is expressed in the New Testament primarily by ascribing to him all the activities and properties that, in Scripture belong to God alone, such as creating (Jn 1:3), bestowing life (Jn 6:35; Acts 3:15), forgiving sins (Mk 2:5-7), raising the dead (Lk 7:14-15), and being the recipient of prayers (Acts 7:59). However, there are also a few places where the divinity of Jesus is indicated more directly, by using the terms “God” and “Lord.” In the New Testament, the title “God,” with an article (ο θεος) in almost without exception, reserved for the one God of Israel, the Father of Jesus Christ. Without an article, Scripture applies the term in a much broader sense: according to Psalm 81:6 (LXX): “I said you are gods, sons of the Most High,” a verse to which Jesus refers o assert that all those to whom the word of God came are “gods” (Jn 10:35); there are, as Paul states, many gods (1 Cor 8:5). From the earliest of the New Testament writings, the title “God,” with an article, is applied almost exclusively to the Father, and often used to differentiate between God himself and Jesus Christ, who is designated Lord. So, for instance, in a formula typical of Paul, he refers to “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 15:6). An important text, emphasizing the uniqueness of these respective designations is 1 Corinthians 8:6:

 

For us there is one God, the father, from whom are all things and unto whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

 

The affirmation that there is one God, the father, the monotheistic heart of Christianity, and one Lord Jesus Christ, who does all the things that God himself does, so demonstrating that he is as divine as the father, is the basic pattern for all subsequent creedal affirmations: I believe in one God the father . . . and in one Lord Jesus Christ. (John Behr, Formation of Christian Theology, 2 vols. [Crestwood, N.Y.: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2001], 1:57-58)

 

The distinction between the articular and anarthrous “theos” was already made by Philo, On Dreams 1.229, commenting on Ex 6:3: “Accordingly the Holy Word in the present instance has indicated him who is truly God by means of the articles, saying “I am the God,” while it omits the article when mentioning him who is improperly so called.” (Ibid., 1:57-58 n. 8; The Greek of On Dreams 1;229 reads τί οὖν χρὴ λέγειν; ὁ μὲν ἀληθείᾳ θεὸς εἷς ἐστιν, οἱ δ᾽ ἐν καταχρήσει λεγόμενοι πλείους. διὸ καὶ ὁ ἱερὸς λόγος ἐν τῷ παρόντι τὸν μὲν ἀληθείᾳ διὰ τοῦ ἄρθρου μεμήνυκεν εἰπών· "ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεός", τὸν δ᾽ ἐν καταχρήσει χωρὶς ἄρθρου φάσκων· "ὁ ὀφθείς σοι ἐν τόπῳ," οὐ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸ μόνον "θεοῦ".)

 

The number of times that Paul calls the crucified and risen Jesus “Lord” needs no documenting. Nor is there any question that in using the term Lord, Paul intended the full significance of the divine Name, YHWH. This is shown, for instance, by application of Joel 3:5 to Christ in Romans 10:13, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”—Christ is the Lord who will save those who turn to him. The most important instance of appealing to the divine name is of course in Philippians:

 

Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the forms of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the father. (Phil 2:5-11)

 

The name above every name, the Divine Name, is bestowed upon the crucified, risen and exalted one, emphasizing, again, the centrality of the Passion. However, it is also necessary to remember that even if Paul consistently applies the title “Lord” to Jesus Christ, transferring to Christ ideas and quotations which originally belong to YHWH alone, this is not a direct identification of YHWH and Jesus Christ: Jesus is all that YHWH himself is, that is, fully divine, yet without actually being YHWH himself, for YHWH is his Father: “We have one God the Father . . . and one Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 8:6). The double barreled name of God in the Scriptures (“the Lord God”) is separated: the Lord, as a proper name, is reserved for the Son, while God (ο θεος), as a proper name, usually stands for the Father, while as common nouns, rather than names, both are applied to the Father and Son. (Ibid., 1:64)

 

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