"What do Christians mean when they call Jesus ""son of God""? In this study of the phrase ""son of God"" as applied to Jesus of Nazareth, Christopher Bryan examines the testimony of various New Testament witnesses who used this expression to speak of him, and asks where they got it, what they meant by it, and how it might have been understood. In Bryan's view, any attempt to address these questions stands self-condemned if it does not point to both the words and works of Jesus himself in the memory of early Christians, and the Torah of Israel as then understood, centering on Israel's Scriptures. Of course Paul and his fellow believers did not proclaim Jesus in a vacuum. They proclaimed Jesus in the Roman Empire during the decades following the death of Augustus. With regard to the meaning of the phrase ""son of God,"" what becomes clear, Bryan argues, is that whereas ""Lord"" (another expression frequently used in the New Testament for Jesus of Nazareth) reflects believers' sense of Jesus' relationship to them, ""son of God"" reflects their sense of his relationship to God. It is a title that reflects their consciousness of Jesus' holiness-that is, his ""set-apartness,"" his consecration, and even his divinity. Readers of Son of God will gain a well-rounded understanding of classic and recent research in Christology and the New Testament, as well as an in-depth, historically situated view of the evidence that paints a clearer picture of what New Testament witnesses meant when they called Jesus ""son of God."""
By:
Christopher Bryan (Woodward Scholar Woodward Scholar Wadham College Oxford)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 163mm,
Width: 242mm,
Spine: 24mm
Weight: 1g
ISBN: 9780197651261
ISBN 10: 0197651267
Pages: 264
Publication Date: 29 March 2023
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Acknowledgments Abbreviations Prologue Part I: The Scene Chapter 1: Galilee Chapter 2: Israel's Scriptures Chapter 3: Sons of God in the Scriptures of Israel Chapter 4: The Graeco-Roman World Chapter 5: Sons of God in the Graeco-Roman World Part II: The Witnesses Chapter 6: Paul and the Son of God Chapter 7: Colossians, Ephesians, and the Son of God Chapter 8: The Synoptics and the Son of God: Baptism and Testing Chapter 9: The Synoptics and the Son of God: Confession and Transfiguration Chapter 10: The Synoptics and the Son of God: the Prayers of Jesus Chapter 11: The Synoptics and the Son of God: Jesus' teaching in Jerusalem Chapter 12: The Synoptics and the Son of God: Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection Chapter 13: Hebrews and the Son of God Chapter 14: The Fourth Evangelist and the Son of God Part III: Largely Unscientific Postscripts Chapter 15: I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me Chapter 16: Why have they been numbered among the sons of God? And why is their lot among the saints? Select Bibliography
Christopher Bryan is a sometime Woodward Scholar of Wadham College, Oxford, Anglican priest, academic, and novelist, now semi-retired. Having lived for many years in Sewanee, Tennessee and Exeter, England, he and Wendy his wife have retired to Exeter, where he continues to write, teach and serve the church.
Reviews for Son of God: Reflections on a Tradition
This book is a very rewarding read, both for the sheer pleasure of its engaging prose and for its many insights into the richness of the title Son of God. * RBL 12/2023 * This book is a very rewarding read, both for the sheer pleasure of its engaging prose and for its many insights into the richness of the title Son of God. * Sigurd Grindheim, RBL 12/2023 *
