The concept of the so-called "Divine Man" in mark's Christology

Abstract

Rudolf Bultmann highlights that the formation of Christology in the early Church was influenced by two concepts of the Hellenistic world: the myth of the Gnostic Redeemer that helped to explain the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection, and the concept of the Divine Man that inspired Mark, and to some extent John, to write the story of God's son walking on earth. The Divine Man has not yet suffered the fate of his companion. On the contrary, after the fall of the Gnostic Redeemer he is flourishing in New Testament exegesis more than ever before. While the meta-historical and figure of the Gnostic Redeemer was applied to the Christ of the Kerygma, the so-called Divine Man is realized in historical persons and, therefore, related to the Jesus. According to Dieter Georgi, Mark's Son of God reveals his divine power in miraculous deeds so that salvation occurs in the present. Keywords: early Church; God; Hellenistic world; Mark's Christology; New Testament exegesis; Rudolf Bultmann