How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God?: Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus

How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus......Page 4
Contents......Page 8
Preface......Page 10
Introduction......Page 14
Part I: ISSUES AND APPROACHES......Page 24
1. How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Approaches to Jesus-Devotion in Earliest Christianity......Page 26
Worship of Jesus as Evolutionary Development......Page 27
Worship of Jesus as Jewish \"Cult\" of Messiah and Martyrs......Page 33
Worship of Jesus as Theological Inference......Page 35
Worship of Jesus: A More Adequate Approach......Page 38
Conclusion......Page 42
2. Devotion to Jesus and Second-Temple Jewish Monotheistic Piety......Page 44
Chronology Matters......Page 45
Demographics......Page 51
Monotheism in the New Testament......Page 55
Jesus and God......Page 58
Principal Agents of the One God......Page 59
Devotion to Jesus as \"Binitarian\" Monotheism......Page 61
Subsequent Doctrinal Development......Page 66
3. To Live and Die for Jesus: Social and Political Consequences of Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity......Page 69
The Roman Religious Environment......Page 70
Family Relationships......Page 73
Christians Married to Non-Christians......Page 76
Christian Slaves......Page 78
Wider Social Relations......Page 81
Political Consequences......Page 90
Conclusion......Page 94
Introductory Matters......Page 96
A Hymn?......Page 97
Original Language?......Page 98
Hymns and Christology......Page 99
Context and Purpose......Page 100
Basic Approach......Page 101
Textual Analysis......Page 102
Structure......Page 103
Acclamation of Jesus and Biblical Allusion......Page 104
Exaltation and the Supreme Name......Page 106
Jesus\' Self-humbling and Obedience......Page 108
\"In the Form of God\"......Page 110
Jesus\' Obedience......Page 115
Summary......Page 116
The Occasion for This Ode......Page 117
Part II: DEFINITIONS AND DEFENSE......Page 122
5. First-Century Jewish Monotheism......Page 124
Methodological Matters......Page 126
Jewish Monotheistic Profession......Page 130
Worship Practice......Page 134
The Religious Outlook......Page 142
Conclusion......Page 146
6. Homage to the Historical Jesus and Early Christian Devotion......Page 147
Definitions......Page 148
Reverence for Jesus in the Gospels......Page 151
The Gospels\' Language of Homage......Page 152
Προσκυνέω in the Gospels......Page 155
The Worship of Jesus in Matthew......Page 158
Reverence of the Historical Jesus and Early Christian Devotion......Page 161
7. Early Jewish Opposition to Jesus-Devotion......Page 165
Blasphemy in the Synoptics......Page 167
Jesus-Devotion and Jewish Opposition in Matthew......Page 168
Jesus-Devotion and Jewish Opposition in Luke-Acts......Page 173
Jesus-Devotion and Jewish Opposition in Mark......Page 175
Pauline Evidence......Page 181
Conclusion......Page 190
8. Religious Experience and Religious Innovation in the New Testament......Page 192
The Treatment of Religious Experience in Biblical Scholarship......Page 193
Religious Experience in Social-Scientific Studies......Page 199
Religious Experience and Innovation in the New Testament......Page 205
Conclusion......Page 215
Epilogue......Page 218
Appendix 1: Opening Remarks to the First Deichmann Annual Lecture Series......Page 220
Appendix 2: Are There Good Reasons for Studying Early Christian Literature at Ben-Gurion University?......Page 228
Index of Modern Authors......Page 230
Index of Subjects......Page 235
Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Sources......Page 241