Son of God

Abstract

Abstract Christians have long referred to Jesus of Nazareth as “Son of God.” But what have they meant by that? And what, if anything, might such an expression mean in the twenty-first century? This book approaches these questions by surveying the use of this and related expressions: first, in the Scriptures of Israel, which provided the language and concepts in which both Jesus and his earliest followers expressed and understood themselves; second, in the world of Greco-Roman and Roman imperial culture surrounding Israel that saw the rise and spread of Christianity; and, finally, in the early Christians’ own testimony to the impact made on them by Jesus of Nazareth, as that is expressed in the New Testament. The survey points to a definite direction and thrust in the understanding and attitudes to Jesus implicit in use of the phrase “Son of God,” an understanding and attitudes that both complement and contrast with that other expression most commonly used of him, namely “Lord.” In a closing section, the book considers the implications of these reflections for Christian theology and self-understanding in the twenty-first century, and in particular with what they have to say to the phenomena of saints, sanctity, and sainthood.