God Crucified: Monotheism and Christology in the New Testament (1999 Bauckham), book

God Crucified: Monotheism and Christology in the New Testament (2009) is a book by Richard Bauckham.

Abstract

"Recent discussion of the interpretation of New Testament Christology has been closely linked with debate about the nature of Jewish monotheism in the period. This book argues that once Judaism's perception of the uniqueness of God is correctly understood, it becomes clear that the first Christians simply included Jesus in the unique identity of the God of Israel." "Originating as the prestigious 1996 Didsbury Lectures, God Crucified makes a significant contribution to biblical studies of interest to Jews and Christians alike."-Publisher description.

In a similar vein to the perspective of his contemporary Larry Hurtado, Bauckham argues that all New Testament texts demonstrate the highest possible Christology right from the start since Jesus was understood by the earliest of Christians to be included in the divine identity. Accordingly, rather than envisioning the slow evolution of Christology out of Jewish monotheism, whereby a series of so-called intermediary figures - by occupying a semi-divine status and participating in the divinity of God in some subordinate way - provided precedents for and parallels to later Christian thought, Bauckham argues that early Christians maintained that Jesus was intrinsic to the unique and eternal identity of God. Since both the pre-existent and exalted Jesus, as well as the earthly, suffering and crucified Jesus belongs to the unique identity of God, this knowledge had implication for how early Christians conceived of the very nature of who God is. An innovative thesis that contradicted much of established scholarly thought, Bauckham's work continues to spark debate within the field today. ~Deborah Forger

Editions

Published in Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009.

External links

• [ Google Books]