His one lord, one god is sort of a distillation of his main points. He is infinite, eternal, all powerful, allknowing, personal, righteous, loving, just, and holy. The beliefs and practices that made christianity very different, distinct, indeed even strange and repellant p. Nishan forumearly christianity this is a pdf of the paper i gave to the first nishan. Richard bauckhams christological pilgrimage1 larry w. In his letter to the philippians, paul teaches that jesus possessed a kind of natural equality with god, but that he. Why on earth did anyone become a christian in the first three centuries.
Library of congress cataloginginpublication data hurtado, larry w. Thomas forsyth torrance mbe frse fba 30 august 19 2 december 2007, commonly referred to as t. Significa ntly, the phrase all things is commonly used in these connections, as well as more elab ora te ways of spea king of all cr eation. Hurtado introduces the different understandings of god that arise in the books of the new testament, and explores the ramifications of those views for. Hurtado introduces the different understandings of god that arise in the books of the new testament, and explores the ramifications of those views for contemporary theology. A historical and literary introduction to jesus in the gospel. Hurtado doesnt think so, and hes made it his lifelong labor of blood, sweat and tears to show how such a narrative simply does not take the evidence seriously. How on earth did jesus become a god historical questions. Briefly, god is the only creator of all things the heavens, the earth, the sea and all that is in them and god is t he only sovereign ruler of all th ings all nature and history. Prof larry hurtado ba ma phd frse additional publications.
Larry hurtado summarizes the evidence regarding second temple jewish monotheism as follows. It studies jesus christs humanity and divinity, and the relation between these two natures. Some believe the early church avoided images of jesus on the cross until the fourth or fifth century. Larry hurtado, university of edinburgh, divinity department, faculty member.
Briefly, god is the only creator of all things the heavens, the earth, the sea and all that is in. His research ranged broadly on issues in new testament textual criticism, physicalvisual features of. Monotheism, principal angels, and the background of christology 1 l. Strictly speaking, this is not a book on jesus, but. Creating a simple pdf to begin with, im going to create a blank pdf. But what of those scholars such as larry hurtado who want to push past the rhetoric in written. Larry and the meaning of life free pdf, djvu, epub, fb2. Binitarianism is a christian theology of two persons, personas, or aspects in one substancedivinity or god.
Larry hurtados thesis in destroyer of the gods is that the early christian movement, in comparison to other religions in the ancient world, was unique and distinct. Larry hurtado, widely respected for his previous contributions to the study of the new testament and christian origins, offers the best view to date of how the first. How and when did christians start to depict images of jesus on the cross. Larry hurtado, professor of new testament language, literature, and theology at the university of edinburgh, writes that the personification of divine attributes was intended to focus attention on particular aspects of gods nature and e. According to the new testament, god came to earth in the person of his son, jesus christ. Devotion to jesus in earliest christianity james w. I recommend his books to anyone interested in jewish binitarian monotheism. The new testament scholar larry hurtado has pointed out that the earliest christian confession was that jesus is lord. In hebrew, babel means babylon, so in a sense this narrative gives us the account of the beginnings of the great evil city which will be one of the greatest symbols of opposition to gods people, and later the place of defeat, captivity, and exile for the people of god. Hurtado does not cite binitarianism as antithetical to nicene christianity, but rather as an indication that early christians, before nicea, were monotheistic as evidenced by their singular reference to the father as god, and yet also devoted to jesus as preexistent, co eternal, the creator, embodying the power of god, by whom the father. Moore tatum boulevard church of christ phoenix, arizona scholars remain divided today over the origin and identity of the wisdom woman in prov.
Early christian distintiveness in the roman world from the stand to reason podcast, july 12, 2017 greg koukl. I propose that jewish monotheism can be taken as constituting a distinctive version of the. Analyzes the various new testament conceptions of god and suggests how they can best contribute to a contemporary constructive theology. In this important new volume in the library of biblical theology, larry w. Justin was essentially building upon a line of christological argument already. Richard middleton will be discussing interesting things he learned about eschatology while working on a new heaven and a new earth also, as part of this series we are giving away three copies of a new heaven and a new earth. Early christian distintiveness in the roman world from the stand to reason podcast, july 12, 2017. Torrance served for 27 years as professor of christian dogmatics at new college, in the university of edinburgh. Where did the nt writers get the idea of jesus as cocreator. Posts about larry hurtado written by john anngeister. Pastors, students, and bible teachers will find in this series a commitment to accessibility without sacrificing serious scholarship. However, larry hurtado points out that the staurogram only refers to the crucifixion, unlike others, which mention jesus other characteristics. God and father of jesus christ, a vain and stupid creator deity, and the world as a.
The trinity in the new testament critique of the doctrine. In 2006 larry hurtado noted that the early christians probably saw in the staurogram a depiction of jesus on the cross, with the cross represented as elsewhere by the tau and the head by the loop of the rho, as. Prof larry hurtado ba ma phd frse additional publications authored books larry w. He was the head of the school of divinity 20072010, and was until august 2011 director of the centre for the study of christian origins at the. Unlike nearly all other religious groups, christianity utterly rejected the traditional gods of the roman world. Does the book of mormon teach mainstream trinitarianism. Reverence for jesus among early christians, notes hurtado, included both grand claims about jesus significance and a pattern of devotional practices that effectively treated him as divine.
Larry and i are friends, though we do not agree on all the details. Hurtado university of edinburgh i consider richard bauckham one of the most significant contributors to the study of the new testament and early christianity of our time. Larry weir hurtado frse 19432019 was an american new testament scholar, historian of early christianity, and emeritus professor of new testament language, literature and theology at the university of edinburgh, scotland professor 19962011. Early christian distinctiveness in the roman world baylor, 2016.
Jesus among friends and enemies is a unique idea for a historical jesus book. Hurtado, university of edinburgh in recent decades there has been an intensively renewed interest in the origins and development of christology, or, to use a broader term intended to take into account. The following is a transcript of an interview with dr. Hurtado, university of edinburgh jesusdevotion in recent study over the last thirty years or so, devotion to jesus has been a topic of renewed and. This may seem like a waste of time, but it does serve two good purposes. Also, the staurogram is visualthe taurho combinations create images of jesus on the cross, making the staurogram the earliest christian images of jesus on the cross. Before doing so, i would like to first affirm my personal belief in orthodoxy. I picked up at the library yesterday larry hurtados book on early christdevotion in the church, lord jesus christ 2003 hoping to buff up a little on elements of what i think could be a good argument against the minimalist view that the sons divinity was not believed until after the written gospels started showing up. How the messiahs name was mishandled by greek translators. Classically, binitarianism is understood as a form of monotheismthat is, that god is absolutely one beingand yet with binitarianism there is a twoness in god, which means one god family.
Once christians were convinced that jesus was the creator. Today we are pleased to share the latest post in our new weekly series, beyond the book this month j. Devotion to jesus in earliest christianity grand rapids. Packer writes, the gospel tells us that our creator has become our redeemer. Hurtado shows in destroyer of the gods, christianity thrived despite its new and distinctive features and opposition to them. He is best known for his pioneering work in the study of science and theology, but he is equally respected. A bibliography as well as scripture and subject indexes are also included.
In this massive study to my knowledge, the largest singleauthor work on paul in print, perhaps the largest ever published, we surely have wrights magnum opus on the apostle. Hurtado, lord jesus christ devotion to jesus in earliest christianity grand. In other words, we come to the doctrine of god through encounter with his revelation in jesus christ. Many roads run back to her door through mythological,2 sapiential,3 apocalyptic,4 rabbinic5 and early christian6 circles. God as the creator of all things, but on subsequent jewish monotheistic rhetoric that wedded belief in one god with gods universal sovereignty as creator and ruler over all. In this massive study to my knowledge, the largest singleauthor work on paul in print, perhaps the largest ever published, we surely have wrights magnum opus on. Larry hurtado has several books in this regard see amazon. He also focuses on worship or monolatry but against those e. Larry hurtado investigates the keen devotion to jesus that emerged with surprising speed after his death. The bible reveals god as the creator of the universe.
Much attention has been paid to the words of the earliest christian canonical and extracanonical texts, yet larry hurtado points out that an even more telling story is being overlooked the story of the physical texts themselves. The meaning of heaven in the bible baker publishing group. He was the author of 11 books and over 100 articles in journals, multiauthor and reference works. Abraham, isaac, and jacob, the creator of heaven and earth.
Christians, i think, pretty much feel like personas non grata in our culture nowadays, and my guest is a specialist in early christianity. New book on early christianity by larry hurtado august 2, 2016 this coming september, larry hurtado, emeritus professor of new testament at the university of edinburgh and my doktorvater, releases his latest volume, destroyer of the gods. Why on earth did anyone become a christian in the first three. Review of how on earth did jesus become a god historical questions about earliest devotion to jesus, by larry w. Oct 30, 2006 much attention has been paid to the words of the earliest christian canonical and extracanonical texts, yet larry hurtado points out that an even more telling story is being overlooked the story of the physical texts themselves. Why on earth did anyone become a christian in the first. God was the creator not, like some of the monotheistic debates today, that israels god was one rather than many or that he was a unipersonal entity instead of a tripersonal entity. Bickmore this definition is not some overly convenient redefinition of monotheism.
954 370 283 373 113 299 768 40 495 620 129 1504 914 1324 1021 138 567 199 601 1609 1408 1085 65 873 1389 1414 1304 437 1276 75 996 262 1060 1096 505 143 517 805 12 1403 1290 468 1127 694 1132 297 1068 189 348 1397