The Origin of Divine Christology by Andrew Ter Ern Loke

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Origin of Divine Christology by Andrew Ter Ern Loke Glenn B. Siniscalchi andrew ter ern loke, The Origin of Divine Christology (SNTSMS 169; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019). Pp. xvi + 249. $29.99. One of the controversial discussions in the field of Christian origins pertains to the causal factors that produced widespread convictions among the primitive church communities that Jesus was not merely the Messiah, but that the God of Israel entered human history and became a man. This has become a fascinating topic of exploration in recent years, spurred on by the New Religionsgeschichtliche Schule, which is spearheaded by biblical scholars Richard Bauckham, Larry Hurtado, N. T. Wright, and the late Martin Hengel. These eminent scholars have argued convincingly that the earliest christological beliefs were already the highest form of christology. Andrew Ter Ern Loke aligns himself with most of the nuanced contentions of the aforementioned camp, but he argues that the highest christological expressions and devotional practices of the earliest Christian communities cannot be traced back to mere theological reflections about their newfound faith, but instead they go back to the teachings of [End Page 501] Jesus himself. As T.E.L. puts matters, "I shall argue that earliest Christian documents contain evidences of widespread conviction of the earliest Christian leaders concerning the divinity of Jesus, and I shall demonstrate that the origination of this widespread conviction is best explained by my proposal … that the historical roots of certain details contain the earliest Christians' perceptions that Jesus gave a clear indication that he regarded himself as truly divine" (p. 12). Loke acknowledges three broad evidential data that should be highlighted by NT historians in order to arrive at the thesis that Jesus's self-understanding is the causal factor that triggered the origin of divine christology. T.E.L.'s conclusions are heavily based on Pauline testimonies concerning the earliest Christian milieu before 50 c.e.: "The evidence in the Pauline epistles is highly significant, as they reflect the christological convictions present among the earliest Christians" (p. 24). For example, the strict Jewish belief in one God reinforces the strangeness and difficulty of believing that Jesus had an equal ontological standing with Yhwh (1 Cor 8:6; Phil 2:6–11). Instead, a much more powerful set of causes is needed to generate these contrasting convictions. The second piece of evidence follows the lead of Hurtado's major contributions and is a series of devotional practices among the earliest Christian believers: prayers said to Jesus; invocations and confessions of Jesus as the Lord; baptism into Jesus's name; the celebration of the Eucharist; hymns sung to Jesus; and prophetic speech. These practices demonstrate conclusively that the earliest believers at least recognized Jesus as divine: "Together with the observation that, in the first-century religious context, they have their closest analogies in the kinds of devotion given to divinities in the Roman religious environment, to the God of Israel in Jewish circles and to the various deities reverenced in non-Jewish groups, this demonstrates that they are properly understood as constituting the cultic worship of Jesus" (p. 44). The final piece of evidence is the spiritual desire for Christ, a desire reserved for Yhwh alone. After rebutting several objections to comprehensive depictions of earliest Christianity, T.E.L. considers the extent of highest christology. The earliest depictions of the Christian life that were assumed by Paul and the communities he addressed show "no need to explain or justify the christological contents of his teachings" (p. 101). This strongly suggests that "there is a lack of evidence of disagreements in his epistles concerning the person of Jesus and his divinity" (p. 102). Other considerable elements of evidence include Paul's persecution of Christian believers, Jewish opposition to the theological claims of the cross, traces of Aramaic (e.g., 1 Cor 16:22), and charismatic exegetical understandings of the Scriptures. The rest of the book concentrates heavily on outlining and answering recent objections to T.E.L.'s theses. Perhaps the greatest strength and weakness of the book is the systematic and comprehensive exposure of recent viewpoints and trends regarding the divine christology of the earliest Christians. Since...