The first verse of John’s Gospel seems
to honor the traditional distinction between God Most High—God as identified in
Greek by the definite article: “the God,” ο θεος-and “God” (or “god”) in a secondary, subordinate, and perhaps only honorific
sense: θεος sans article. And certainly there are
verses in the New Testament that seem to suggest that the Son of God is, in a
sense, an adoptee, or appointed heir: Acts 2:36; 5:31; 13:33; Romans 1:1-3; 1
Corinthians 8:6; Philippians 2:9; Hebrews 5:5. (David
Bentley Hart, Tradition and Apocalypse: An Essay on the Future of Christian
Belief [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2022], 113-14)