The Origin of Divine Christology

In recent years, there has been considerable debate concerning the
origin of divine Christology. Nevertheless, the proposed theories
are beset with problems, such as failing to address the evidence of
widespread agreement among the earliest Christians concerning
divine Christology and the issues related to whether Jesus’ intention
was falsifi ed. This book off ers a new contribution by addressing
these issues using transdisciplinary tools. It proposes that the
earliest Christians regarded Jesus as divine because a sizeable
group of them perceived that Jesus claimed and showed himself
to be divine, and thought that God vindicated this claim by raising
Jesus from the dead. It also provides a comprehensive critique of
alternative proposals and synthesizes their strengths. It defends the
appropriateness and merits of utilizing philosophical distinctions
(e.g. between ontology and function) and Trinitarian concepts for
explaining early Christology, and incorporates comparative religion
by examining cases of deifi cation in other contexts.