How God became Jesus: the real origins of belief in Jesus' divine nature--a response to Bart Ehrman

Abstract

In his recent book How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher From Galilee historian Bart Ehrman explores a claim that resides at heart of Christian faith- that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, God. According to Ehrman, though, this is not what earliest disciples believed, nor what Jesus claimed about himself. The first response book to this latest challenge to Christianity from Ehrman, How God Became Jesus features work of five internationally recognized biblical scholars. While subjecting his claims to critical scrutiny, they offer a better, historically informed account of why Galilean preacher from Nazareth came to be hailed as the Lord Jesus Christ. Namely, they contend, exalted place of Jesus in belief and worship is clearly evident in earliest Christian sources, shortly following his death, and was not simply invention of church centuries later.