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)
