Is “High Human Christology” Sufficient? A Critical Response to J. R. Daniel Kirk's A Man Attested by God

Abstract

Abstract J. R. Daniel Kirk's book A Man Attested by God argues that the Christology of the Synoptic Gospels should be understood as “high human Christology,” placing Jesus within a category of “idealized human figures” who, in Jewish literature, are “identified with God.” He claims to refute my argument for “divine identity Christology,” but in fact he badly misunderstands it, as his constant use of the vague term identified with God (which I do not use of Jesus) shows. My claim is that Jesus is “included in the unique identity of God” because he rules the whole universe from the cosmic throne of God above the heavens, the throne on which, in Jewish literature, no one but God sits. Other human figures, such as the kings of Israel, share in God's rule only in the sense that, as servants of God, they exercise a limited sphere of authority on earth. The article goes on to discuss Matthew's Christology in particular, showing that Kirk's category “idealized human figure” cannot do justice to major features of Matthew's Gospel that indicate Jesus's inclusion within the unique divine identity.