Abstract
This article aims to show that some of the New Testament interpretations of the "son of man" phrase appear to be, according to B Lindars “a myth, created, not by the thinkers of the New Testament times, but by modern critical scholarship.” This view is substantiated in two ways: the first deals with an exegesis of the expression "son of man", while the second highlights some exegetical myths about "son of man". The first part includes sections on the linguistic origin of "son of man", "son of man" in the history of religions, and "son of man" as a historical figure according to Mark and Q. The second part comprises the sections dealing with the understanding of myth, and the myth of the "son of man" as a messianic title adopted by Jesus and by the early Church.
Highlights
The "son of man" question is still the subject of intense debate among NewTestament scholars
This paper aims to show that some of the New Testament interpretations of the "son of man" phrase appear to be “a myth, created, not by the thinkers of the New Testament times, but by modern critical scholarship”
"son of man" is understood as an expression used by Jesus to refer to himself as a human being
Summary
Being testimonies of early Christian communities which, after Jesus’ resurrection believed in him as “son of man” and Son of God (true man and true God), both sources portray Jesus as having human and divine features, even though it can be argued that “Jesus as a first-century Israelite from Galilee should be studied like other historical persons and should not be regarded as absolutely unique” (Van Aarde 2001:38). By means of the expression true man the Creed basically refers to the historical Jesus recognized as a human being or a “son of man”, but not to the so-called pre-existent Son of man, which seems to be a mythological reconstruction featured in a great number of modern exegetical writings alongside interpretations from some historians of religions
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