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Jesus and Divine Christology
Did Jesus see himself as divine?
Since the beginning of the quest for the historical Jesus, scholars have dismissed the idea that Jesus could have identified himself as God. Such high Christology is frequently depicted as an invention of the councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon, centuries later. Yet recent research has shown that the earliest Jewish followers of Jesus already regarded him as divine.
Brant Pitre tackles this paradox in his bold new monograph. Pitre challenges this widespread assumption and makes a robust case that Jesus did consider himself divine. Carefully explicating the Gospels in the context of Second Temple Judaism, Pitre shows how Jesus used riddles, questions, and scriptural allusions to reveal the apocalyptic secret of his divinity. Moreover, Pitre explains how Jesus acts as if he is divine in both the Synoptics and the Gospel of John. Carefully weighing the historical evidence, Pitre argues that the origins of early high Christology can be traced to the historical Jesus’s words and actions.
Jesus and Divine Christology sheds light on long-neglected yet key evidence that the historical Jesus saw himself as divine. Scholars and students of the New Testament—and anyone curious about the Jewish context of early Christianity—will find Pitre’s argument a necessary and provocative corrective to a critically underexamined topic.
Since the beginning of the quest for the historical Jesus, scholars have dismissed the idea that Jesus could have identified himself as God. Such high Christology is frequently depicted as an invention of the councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon, centuries later. Yet recent research has shown that the earliest Jewish followers of Jesus already regarded him as divine.
Brant Pitre tackles this paradox in his bold new monograph. Pitre challenges this widespread assumption and makes a robust case that Jesus did consider himself divine. Carefully explicating the Gospels in the context of Second Temple Judaism, Pitre shows how Jesus used riddles, questions, and scriptural allusions to reveal the apocalyptic secret of his divinity. Moreover, Pitre explains how Jesus acts as if he is divine in both the Synoptics and the Gospel of John. Carefully weighing the historical evidence, Pitre argues that the origins of early high Christology can be traced to the historical Jesus’s words and actions.
Jesus and Divine Christology sheds light on long-neglected yet key evidence that the historical Jesus saw himself as divine. Scholars and students of the New Testament—and anyone curious about the Jewish context of early Christianity—will find Pitre’s argument a necessary and provocative corrective to a critically underexamined topic.
- GenresTheology
416 pages, Hardcover
Published August 15, 2024
About the author
Brant Pitre
26 books382 followersDr. Brant Pitre is Professor of Sacred Scripture at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned his Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame, where he specialized the study of the New Testament and ancient Judaism. He is the author of several articles and the books Jesus, the Tribulation, and the End of the Exile (Baker Academic, 2005); Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist (Image Books, 2011); and Jesus the Bridegroom (Image Books, 2014). Dr. Pitre is an extremely enthusiastic and engaging speaker who lectures regularly across the United States. He has produced dozens of Bible studies on CD, DVD, and MP3, in which he explores the biblical foundations of Catholic faith and theology. He currently lives in Gray, Louisiana, with his wife Elizabeth, and their five children.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 25, 2024
Just recently finished this excellent book by Brant Pitre. One of the best books I have read this year and the best on Historical Jesus studies in many years. It's well argued and He has insights not commonly found in this area. I found his arguments convincing for the most part and it got Me to thinking in new ways about this very well trodden path. I was exposed to Rudolph Bultmann early in my life, and its been a long recovery ever since from that type of Hyper skeptical approach to the New Testament. This volume is a very good antidote to some of that. Pre held presuppositions dominate the Study of Jesus Christ, and one's World view tends to dictate the subsequent results. Professor Pitre does a good job, of pointing this out and makes good cases against some of the anti supernatural or Naturalism World, view as applied to the Gospels. I have read a lot of Kenotic Christology books, that often argue that Jesus didn't have a view that He was Divine, that He was ignorant of this, so that He could live an authentic and Clueless Human life, much like we do as pedestrian Human Beings. There is a point in that approach. That if One knows that one is the Omnipotent Creator, can one really suffer as a mere Human Being? Still, the idea that God as Incarnate had such ignorance, doesn't sit well either with Me intellectually. A totally plain human Consciousness seems incongruous to Me, for a God/Man. And in any case a Kenotic interpretation of Jesus doesn't really match the New Testament Witness. So I agree with professor Pitre and I found his arguments in the book historically convincing. Still, History is not exact science and one can only go so far. There are no knock down Proofs of any historica claims, and human interpretation plays it's role as well. I highly recommend this book. It's a beautiful looking book too. Great Icon Cover and good print type by Eerdmans. Fair price too by today's standards. Take and Read. Sincerely, Rick from Bradford Pa
October 6, 2024
I was a little disappointed by this one. I love everything Pitre has done, but this reads more like an apologetics book than a work of scholarship. The author said his intent was to show that Jesus was viewed as divine very early on, and that evidence of this can be found throughout the NT. He does that. It's not a BAD book, and does interact with a lot of recent scholarship. But it's more of a collection of prooftexts than a discussion of "divinity" or messianism in Second Temple Judaism.
January 20, 2025
Thorough, convincing, erudite
There are books that come along that are there to build out a knowledge framework to “hang” information on, to provide a context or foundation. You can’t understand everything let alone reproduce it all, but it becomes an essential building block to continue growing. That is what Pitre does in this impressive work, in which he establishes a way to historical analyze the divine sayings and actions of Jesus primarily in the synoptics and also in John for their intelligibility and effect on Jesus’s earliest followers and the Church itself. Pitre draws many other scholars, Christian, Jewish, and sceptic, into his argument, and shows that Jesus acted in such a way to claim both human and divine status.
There are books that come along that are there to build out a knowledge framework to “hang” information on, to provide a context or foundation. You can’t understand everything let alone reproduce it all, but it becomes an essential building block to continue growing. That is what Pitre does in this impressive work, in which he establishes a way to historical analyze the divine sayings and actions of Jesus primarily in the synoptics and also in John for their intelligibility and effect on Jesus’s earliest followers and the Church itself. Pitre draws many other scholars, Christian, Jewish, and sceptic, into his argument, and shows that Jesus acted in such a way to claim both human and divine status.
January 21, 2025
Pitre provides a thorough and persuasive defense for the synoptic gospels teaching Christ’s divinity and the basic historicity of these occurrences. Pitre demonstrates a vast knowledge of ancient Jewish, Greco-Roman sources as well as writers working in the field of the historical Jesus. This is essential reading for any scholar or serious student of the historical Jesus.
January 22, 2025
Burial of the "theology" of Bart Ehrman ..
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews