Jesus and the Identity of God
Posted: Monday Aug 17th | Author: JohnO | Filed under: Dialogue, Exegesis, Historical Method, Jesus, Second Temple Judaism | View CommentsIn an effort to further this discussion, I will specifically be lifting my argument and points from my previous paper. I don’t really think it needs re-working. Perhaps the point and argumentation was being lost amidst my own questions that I felt the paper would generate. Here we go:
Paper Excerpts
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a historically, literary, and sociologically sensitive method for approaching the Jewish texts that talk about God.
The main argument goes thus. First, Judaism defined God definitively in two ways; the sovereign one, and the creator. Second, all other pagan claims of deity were fought off on these grounds, as their god is neither sovereign, nor the creator. In most cases their god was declared to be impotent (not non-existent, though it did happen occasionally). Third, Jesus is included in “the identity of God” because he is argued in the texts to be sovereign and involved as creator when Christians faced pagan claims. Jesus is not assaulting the Jewish God to replace him (as a pagan god would be doing). Rather Jesus, with God’s election, is involved in doing
what God does according to the Jewish worldview
The dominance of the distinction between ‘functional’ and ‘ontic’ [ontological] Christology has made it seem unproblematic to say that, for early Christology, Jesus exercises the ‘functions’ of divine lordship without being regarded as ‘ontically’ divine. In fact, such a distinction is highly problematic from the point of view of early Jewish monotheism. For this understanding of the unique divine identity, the unique sovereignty of God was not a mere ‘function’ which God could delegate to someone else. It was one of the key identifying characteristics of the unique divine identity, which distinguished the one God from all other reality. The unique divine sovereignty is a matter of who God is… The distinction commonly made between ‘functional’ and ‘ontic’ Christology has been, broadly, between early Christology in a Jewish context and patristic Christology which applied Greek philosophical categories of divine nature to Christ…. However this is to misconstrue Jewish monotheism in Hellenistic terms as though it were primarily concerned with what divinity is – divine nature – rather than with who YHWH, the unique God, is – divine identity. Bauckham pg 30-1
The modern version of the question is “what metaphysical characteristics must a being possess to rightly be termed ‘god’, or even ‘God’?”. Bauckham is right to show the ancient question is more like “which one of these so-called deities is the real God, or a god?”. That modern question has no relevance when we are talking about our ancient sources. We must treat the source as they come to us, from their own time and culture. To find an answer to our question Bauckham goes to the most likely place to find an answer – the texts in which Second Temple writers are combating pagan god-claims.
To our question, ‘In what did Second Temple Judaism consider the uniqueness of the one God to consist, what distinguished God as unique from all other reality, including being worshipped as gods by Gentiles?’, the answer given again and again, in a wide variety of Second Temple Jewish literature, is that the only true God,
YHWH, the God of Israel, is sole Creator of all things, and sole Ruler of all things. Bauckham pg 9
When the Jewish people needed to qualify who God is to themselves, or to pagans, they repeatedly used the themes of Creation and God’s Sovereignty to back up their claims. Bauckham’s full footnotes on the themes, first of Creation read thus: Isa 40.26, 28; 42.5, 44.24, 45.12, 18; 48.13, 51.16; Neh 9.6; Hos 13.4 LXX, 2 Macc. 1.24; Sir 43.33; Bel 5; Jub 12.3-5; Sib Or 3.20-35; 8.375-76; Sib Or frg 1.5-6; Sib Or frg 3; Sib Or frg 5; 2 En 47.3-4; 66.4; Apoc Ab 7.10; Ps-Sophocles; Jos Asen 12.1-2; T Job 2.3; second of Rulership thus: Dan 4.34-35; Bel 5; Add Esth 13.9-11; 16.18, 21; 3 Macc 2.2-3; 6.2; Wis 12.13; Sir 18.1-3, Sib Or 3.10, 19; Sib Or frg 1.7, 15, 17, 35; 1 En 9.5; 84.3; 2 En 33.7, 2 Bar 54.13 Josephus, A.J. 1.155-6
Bauckham has ceased attempts to find late Jewish parallels for the exaltation and veneration of intermediary figures as precursors for the Christian devotion of Jesus. In his view this approach is a red herring. Jews did venerate intermediary figures and dead heros. There is no clear and agreed upon way, however, to draw a line in the sand regarding devotion to these figures whether human, alive or dead, or angelic figures, as signifying that they are in fact “divine”, whatever that slippery word may mean. Better not to try! Instead take cues from the very writers reacting to social and prophetic situations in the texts. This idea of defining who God is by sovereignty specifically leads us back to the Gospel proclamation of the early Church.
The addition of the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus to the Gospel message adds material to the Gospel message that I, and perhaps we, have not fully grasped yet: “Jesus is Lord”. I am persuaded that there is some subversive play going on with Jesus and Caesar, though the degree is up for debate. Caesar claims to be the ‘lord over all the world’. Paul would seem to say that Caesar is the parody of which Jesus is the reality, Jesus is the real “lord over all the world”. However, it seems there is more. Paul makes this move in the Roman world, but without leaving his Jewish influences. And Bauckham would have us look at the early Christian usage of Ps. 110 based on Jewish exegetical use in light of how they define who God is. We are right to recognize that Ps. 110 is the most referenced OT portion in the NT. The New Testament rests its understanding of who Jesus is based on it’s own interpretation of Ps 110. That interpretation is by definition different than the authorial intent. Of course, the authorial intent is important both in its own right, and as a launching pad for the understandings and interpretations about the Messiah held by Jews during the Second Temple period. Do not mistake for me casting it off, only bringing to the forefront theological points found in the literature.
What then might “Jesus is Lord” mean for defining who God and Jesus are in light of Ps 110? We first have to go to other literature of the second temple period, specifically Enoch, with Bauckham’s argument in mind:
The symbolic function of the unique divine throne is such that, if we find a figure distinguishable from God seated on God’s throne itself, we should see that as one of Judaism’s most potent theological means of including such a figure in the unique divine identity Bauckham pg 165
If God is defined by his sovereignty, and the symbol of that sovereignty is his throne – what does it mean when another is on that throne? It cannot mean that another besides God is sovereign, especially when written by a Jewish writer protesting their pagan rulers. The very fact that they write is a protest against such an idea! Rather the fact that YHWH is God is reinforced, and somehow, includes whoever is on the throne in God’s plan and identity. After all, God is the one who sits on the throne. I find this argument to be falsifiable, sound, and
precise, qualities all good arguments need.
A good example we should all agree with:
All the heavens are your throne forever, and all the earth is your footstool for ever and for ever and ever. For you have made and you rule all things, and nothing is too difficult for you; Wisdom does not escape you, and it does not turn away from your throne, nor from your presence Enoch 84.2-3
Wisdom is depicted on God’s throne with him. Wisdom is intrinsic to who God is, it is of no threat to monotheism. Wisdom is part of the identity of God. Notice that we see both symbols – creation and sovereignty – in this text used to define who God is, and Wisdom as a separate figure is mentioned right there, with no threat to YHWH.
The Son of Man in Enoch is presented on God’s throne:
And the Lord of Spirits placed the Elect one on the throne of glory. And he shall judge all the works of the holy above in the heaven, and in the balance shall their deeds be weighed
Enoch 61:8
And the Lord of Spirits seated him on the throne of His glory, and the spirit of righteousness was poured out upon him, and the word of his mouth slays all the sinners, and all the unrighteous are destroyed from before his face. Enoch 62:2
The Son of Man in Enoch is depicted as the eschatological figure through which judgment will take place. This figure exercising God’s sovereignty is placed, by God, on his throne – indicating, according to Bauckham, that he should be understood to be a part of the identity of God.
What Ezekiel the Tragedian attributes only figuratively to Moses, the Parables of Enoch attribute literally to the Son of Man, though only in the eschatological future. The contrast enables us to see that, in all other portrayals of exalted human and angelic figures, there is no question of participation in the unique divine identity:
they fall unproblematically outside it. They execute God’s will, but they do not participate in the divine sovereignty in the way which sitting on the divine throne signifies. They do not receive worship, which is often refused by them or forbidden. The Son of Man in the Parables of Enoch is the exception that proves the rule. Bauckham pg 171
The Son of Man in Enoch receives worship on the throne as a result of his sovereignty. That worship is not just the respect due a king or authority figure, it is more. The worship is the correct response to God’s throne and sovereignty. I find no fault in Bauckham’s argument, and no fault in its execution on the text in Enoch.
When we look at the proclamation surrounding Jesus we must recognize it is not a metaphor for some earthly truth. He did not reign on any throne during his ministry that would make sense out of any metaphor.
Psalm 110:1, perhaps the most foundational text for the whole configuration, was a novel choice, evidence of the exegetical and theological (the two are inextricable) novelty of the earliest Christian movements. The explanation of its role in early Christology, contrasted with its absence from Second Temple Jewish literature, is
that, for early Christians, it said about Jesus what no other Jews had wished to say about the Messiah or any other figure: that he had been exalted by God to participate now in the cosmic sovereignty unique to the divine identity. Bauckham pg 175
The Christian interpretation of this passage as it relates to understanding the present state of Jesus is stated explicitly elsewhere: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”. A passage about being “exalted to the right hand of God” when used to explain the historical event of Jesus’ ascension, combined with other elements, God’s sovereignty, create a strong picture and symbol. The point of that picture and symbol is exactly the same as in Enoch. It seem that the intention of the NT is to present Jesus exercising God’s sovereignty on God’s throne, thereby including him in the divine identity.
No wonder Paul creates a definitive statement about who God is amidst pagan influence in 1Cor 8.6 in light of Jesus’ present eschatological situation participating in God’s divine sovereignty on His throne. What, in light of the Shema, might this mean? If we’ve abandoned the functional and ontic categories, what we must conclude is one, that Jesus is subordinate, and two, one is what one does in the ancient world.
If Jesus receives these qualities then he does not innately hold them himself. That is precisely what the ascension would have us understand. Because of his faithful obedience he is exalted to a heavenly position. Both Hurtado and Bauckham hold that “the name above every name” is God’s name, an exploration we cannot make in this limited space.
Paul has taken over all the words of this Greek version of the Shema, but rearranged them in such a way as to produce an affirmation of both one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ. Bauckham pg 101
These verses are the NT Shema. What Paul has done is extremely new. No other Jewish group of the Second Temple period even came close to understanding the Shema in a new way. Most likely because no other group experienced God’s activity in the world through their own leadership figures. There was no theological event for any other group to reflect on which would add new information to their already complex map of symbols, stories, and praxis.
The only possible way to understand Paul as maintaining monotheism is to understand him to be including Jesus in the identity of the one God affirmed in the Shema. But this is, in any case, clear from the fact that the term ‘Lord’ applied here to Jesus as the ‘one Lord’ is taken from the Shema itself. Paul is not adding to the
one God of the Shema, a ‘Lord’ the Shema does not mention. He is identifying Jesus as the ‘Lord’ whom the Shema affirms to be one. In this unprecedented reformulation of the Shema, the unique identity of the one God consists of the one God, the Father, and the one Lord, his Messiah (who is implicitly regarded as the
Son of the Father) .ibid
This is the most damaging claim. However, the fact that Paul has used all of the words of the Greek Shema I cannot disagree with it. There is no question the Shema is in use here. And there is no question that the text equates Jesus with the ‘Lord’ in the text. Bauckham moves further forward:
Of the Jewish ways of characterizing the divine uniqueness, the most unequivocal was by reference to creation. In the uniquely divine role of creating all things, it was, for Jewish monotheism, unthinkable that any being other than God could even assist God (Is 44:24, 4 Ezra 3:4, Josephus, C. Ap. 2.129) But, to Paul’s unparalleled
inclusion of Jesus in the Shema, he adds the equally unparalleled inclusion of Jesus in the creative activity of God. Bauckham pg 102
It is true that there are some non-Jewish Hellenistic parallels to the formulation which relates ‘all things’ (ta panta) to God by a variety of prepositions… The point of such formulae is that they describe God as the cause of all things, indicating the various types of causation (as standardly recognized in ancient philosophy) which are appropriate to God’s relation to the world by means of the various prepositions: i.e. efficient causation (ek), instrumental causation (dia or en), and final causation (eis) Bauckham pg 214
We can, therefore, be confident that Paul’s formulation – ‘from him and through him and to him [are] all things’ – is neither original to Paul nor borrowed directly from non-Jewish sources, but was known to him as a Jewish description precisely of God’s unique relationship to all other reality. That God is the instrumental cause (dia) as well as the agent of efficient cause (ek) of all things well expresses the Jewish monotheistic insistence that God used no one else to carry out his creative work, but accomplished it solely by means of his own Word and/or Wisdom. Bauckham pg 215
When we talk about ‘creation’ we do not need to make such a hard and fast distinction (approaching deism) between Genesis and the New Creation. Jesus in the early Christian experience is the pinnacle example of the New Creation via resurrection, and through the Spirit he administers that New Creation to the rest of the Church. Both creation in Genesis and New Creation fall under this ‘all things’ that Paul references.
In this sense, salvation, as well as creation is envisaged, but in no less cosmic a sense and scope than in the case of creation. This point is missed when, in support of a soteriological rather than a creational reference in 1 Cor 8:6, it is claimed that Paul uses the phrse ta de panta ek tou theou either with reference to God’s creative
work (1 Cor 11:12) or with reference to God’s salvific work (2 Cor. 5:18). In fact, 2 Cor 5:18 refers to God’s work of salvation precisely as new creation (cf. 5:17). There is no evidence that, when Paul says ta panta, he means anything less than Jewish writers normally meant by this phrase: the whole of reality created by God,
all things other than God their Creator. Bauckham pg 216
Paul’s intent in writing then is to show that Jesus is intimately involved in what God is doing at their time (and our time) in history. Jesus is the head of God’s New Creation project. How Paul does this is the interesting part. Jesus is responsible for, at least some, of ‘all things’. What was previously all God’s responsibility, some has fallen to Jesus due to his eschatological role in God’s plan. Jesus is just as responsible for the current state of affairs is in the world as God is. Because Jesus has been exalted to that position of authority and sovereignty. The tougher question is what is Paul’s intention, if any, to talk about Genesis creation and Jesus.
The only text which seems to go definitively in this direction is Hebrews 1:10.
If the prologue of John, read in light of this method, communicates that an intrinsic part of God, the Logos (which is a way to talk theologically about God being active in the world), comes into the world as Jesus, is this not a new way to talk theologically about God being active in the world – only now through Jesus? Moreover, what continuity exists between Jesus and the Logos? I argue that Jesus is extrinsic to God, since he is distinguishable and not eternal. Therefore the continuity cannot be without bounds. The Logos remain unchanged, it remained as a part of God, or God’s character, whereas Jesus was a part of this world, and is now a part of the next world, not transcendent, not eternal(Jesus becomes ‘eternal’ as a result of his resurrection and ascension. Transcendence is merely a semantic point based on resurrection, are all resurrected people depicted as “not of this world”? Surely they have bodies as did Jesus. But again that transcendence would be conferred on him, not innately held). Could it be appropriate to reference Jesus in Genesis creation when we the referent is actually the Logos/Spirit/Wisdom? I would argue against it on the basis of intrinsic versus extrinsic and partial (forward, not backward) continuity.
What ought we make of this new landscape? If the question of ‘Who is God’ is answered by ‘The One who is Creator and Sovereign’ then it seems that Bauckham has a foothold for his argument since Paul uses the appropriate language of both his Jewish and pagan contemporaries to make his points. His work raises the confidence with which we can analyze how Jews in the Second Temple Period defined and defended their God, even if it creates muddier waters while we sort it out.
Jesus flatly agrees with who the Jewish people understood God to be. Therefore any further development on that idea must remain within the Jewish worldview (not a hellenistic one). And if the Parables of Enoch are any
indication a human individual partaking uniquely in God’s eschatological plan can, in some ways, be seen as participating in the identity of God (in the Jewish worldview). Again, if the Parable of Enoch is the closest parallel, we have we seem to have surpassed it in the NT. That surpassing can be understood as Jesus’ fundamental necessity to Christianity, which at the time of the authors is still a Jewish sect. Jesus’ centrality is intrinsic to Christianity, or “Judaism according to Jesus”.
Understanding Jesus’ role in creation is based on the kerygma of the Church: “Jesus is Lord”. Second Temple Judaism defined God through sovereignty as well, and if Jesus is sovereign, then we have to address that. However, our modern view of “all things” does not correspond well with the ancient view. The ancient view is more nuanced and holistic – it addresses the ongoing maintenance and activity in the world (which Jesus is unquestionably involved in via the Spirit) – it does not only refer to Genesis creation, but both Genesis creation, New creation, and everything in between. Therefore, if Jesus is added to the identity of God (that is not the
only person involved) and Jesus is included in the present ordering of the world, he need not be involved with Genesis creation, as God took care of that. I am not persuaded, based on the texts which follow the Jewish pattern of using creation and sovereignty, of any backwards projection of Jesus beyond his birth. Only Heb 1:10 seems to reference Genesis creation with respect to Jesus, and that is up for debate.
End Paper
Blog Excerpts
1. I’m not sure whether Paul expands the Shema (McGrath) or places the identity of Jesus within the Shema (Dunn) in 1 Cor 8.6. However, I am growingly inclined to the latter over against the former for the following reasons.
2. Exegetically, in 1 Cor 8.6, one could take the “one God” / “one Lord” pairing either as adding “one Lord” to the “one God” of the Shema,” or, in a short of midrash explaining the Shema by locating the identity of God Most High in both the Father and Jesus. A decision is quite difficult on this matter. In fact, for me, what tips the scale in favor a Jesus sharing in the identity of God Most High is not any one exegetical argument, but evidence from outside of the immediate context.
3. What I mean is this: It is often easier to judge one’s actions than his or her thoughts. The former is easier to see. In the same way, it is easier to see the contours of Paul’s Christology by looking at the contours of Pauline Christianity. When I look at the marks of Christianity in the ancient world, I am compelled to believe that the earliest Christians (Paul included) treated Jesus in much the same way they treated God Most High. For example, they prayed to Jesus (”called” on his name), celebrated a modified passover regularly that was centered about Christ, they attempted to do great works in his “name,” etc. Of course, it may objected that this is not “worship” in the sense of sacrificial worship. Perhaps, but it is certainly devotion to Jesus as an expression of their loyalty to God Most High. In this way, to show devotion to Jesus was to express loyalty to “the one who sent him.”
4. The interesting thing about devotion to Jesus is that it was perceived by later paganism as worship (Lucian Peregrinus 13; Celsus ap. Or. Cels. 8.12, 14, 15; Porph. ap. Aug. civ. Dei 19:23; cf. Mart. Pol. 17:2). For example, the Martyrdom of Polycarp 17.3 reads:
τοῦτον μὲν γὰρ υἱὸν ὄντα τοῦ θεοῦ προσκυνοῦμεν, τοὺς δὲ μάρτυρας ὡς μαθητὰς καὶ μιμητὰς τοῦ κυρίου ἀγαπῶμεν ἀξίως ἕνεκεν εὐνοίας ἀνυπερβλήτου τῆς εἰς τὸν ἴδιον βασιλέα καὶ διδάσκαλον· ὧν γένοιτο καὶ ἡμᾶς συγκοινωνούς τε καὶ συμμαθητὰς γενέσθαι
For this one, who is the Son of God, we worship, but the martyrs we love as disciples and imitators of the Lord, as they deserve, on account of their matchless devotion to their own King and Teacher. May we also become their partners and fellow-disciples!
Now, it might be objected that one would need to nuance the meaning of προσκυνέω here and elsewhere. However, whether it merely refers obeisance or is itself a mark of attributing some sort of divinity to the object of devotion, it would seem to me that the context of these acts make clear that whatever the specific act was, it would be seen as a violation of the Shema unless the identity of Jesus was indistinguishable from the identity of God Most High.
If there is one key weakness to Bauckham’s work, it is his failure to take the time to clarify in detail what exactly “divine identity” means. At times, it becomes clear that Bauckham’s usage of this terminology is far from self-explanatory, and that the phrase does not seem to use “identity” in the way it usually is in English. One common place to encounter it nowadays is of course in referring to identity theft. Bauckham’s references to more than one person sharing the “divine identity”, and even to an identity that the Son shares with the Father, seems at times to be at odds with the terminology itself (see e.g. pp.3-4, 236, 263, 265). This does not necessarily mean that Bauckham should use other terminology, but it does suggest that more attention needs to be paid to clarifying the meaning of “identity” as he uses it, before we can hope to have this terminology clarify texts from ancient Judaism and Christianity (see p.154 for a helpful discussion of the concept, one which is nevertheless much too brief to justify the concept as the foundation for all that precedes and follows in the book). McGrath
If God is willing to share this arguably most unique facet of the divine identity [ed. the divine name YHWH], what does this suggest about Bauckham’s assumption that anyone who is at any point included in the divine identity must, by implication, have eternally been part of that identity?
.ibid
This is also an objection I share and made explicit in the last paragraph of my paper where I argued against backward continuity.
Although I believe he is correct to identify God’s ultimate role as creator and sovereign as key facets of the “unique divine identity”, Bauckham’s attempts to deny that God shares these prerogatives with others fails to do justice to the evidence. .ibid
I think Bauckham contends they are shared with others – and precisely that specific sharing of creation and sovereignity is what includes one in the identity of God; thus allowing worship, being seated on the divine throne, etc, as we find in the case of the Parables of Enoch and Jesus
Bauckham seems to be right to claim that there is a distinctiveness about early Christianity’s exalted portrayal of Jesus (p.231). But he is unwilling to entertain seriously the possibility that it is a difference of degree rather than kind. Believing that Jesus is not merely the Anointed One but the one through whom God will reconcile all things to himself, and believing that their salvation had been accomplished during their own time, it is not surprising that the earliest Christians depicted Jesus as God’s superlative agent, claiming that Jesus does everything that any divine agent has ever done and more. But ultimately, if we are talking about New Testament times, monotheism is preserved not by including Jesus fully within God’s identity (although eventually Christianity would indeed do just that), but by ultimately subordinating Jesus as God’s agent to God (and to God alone). Thus in the Gospel of John, Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, the one who has been given the divine name before the creation of the world; but he still does only what he sees his Father do, and calls his Father “the only true God”. In Paul, Jesus is exalted to the highest possible rank and given the name above all names; but this is still done “to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:6-11), and in the end God is said to not be among the “all things” subjected to the Son, who in the end hands over the kingdom to the Father, so that “God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15) .ibid
I agree with this, however, argue that this mention of degree and kind would need to be defined specifically by each author to make a better judgment. As I said before, there does not appear to be a definitive line within the literature as to the worship offered to God but not other figures (sacrifice is the leading candidate, but is unable to be tested based on the NT evidence).
I hope this specifically highlights the issues at hand, the evidence, arguments for, as well as arguments against. Go at it.
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