Jesus as God

The New Testament Use of Theos in Reference to Jesus

Murray J. Harris

WIPF & STOCK • Eugene, Oregon

Wipf and Stock Publishers

199 W 8th Ave, Suite 3

Eugene, OR 97401

Jesus as God

The New Testament Use of Theos in Reference to Jesus

By Harris, Murray J.

Copyright©1992 by Harris, Murray J.

ISBN 13: 978-1-60608-108-2

Publication date 7/22/2008

Previously published by Baker Book House, 1992

To David Burt,

Christian brother,

Esteemed friend

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

I Introduction: Theos in the New Testament

II The Word Was God (John 1:1)

III The Only Son, Who Is God (John 1:18)

IV My Lord and My God! (John 20:28)

V The Church of God (Acts 20:28)

VI God Blessed Forever (Romans 9:5)

VII Our Great God and Savior (Titus 2:13)

VIII The Throne of God (Psalm 45:7–8)

IX The Throne of God (Hebrews 1:8–9)

X Our God and Savior (2 Peter 1:1)

XI The True God (1 John 5:20)

XII Other Texts

XIII Conclusions: Theos as a Christological Title

Appendixes

I The Definite Article in the Greek New Testament: Some General and Specific Principles

II An Outline of the New Testament Testimony to the Deity of Christ

Bibliography

Author Index

Subject Index

Index of Principal Greek Terms and Phrases

Reference Index

Old Testament

Old Testament Apocrypha

Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

New Testament

Other Ancient Authors and Writings

Tables

1. Statistical Summary of the New Testament Use of θεός

2. Prepositions with (ὁ) θεός

3. Support for the principal Variants in John 1:18

4. Modern Punctuation and Translation of Romans 9:5b

5. Jesus as θεός in the New Testament

Preface

No one who turns from reading a church father such as Ignatius back to the NT can help being impressed by the remarkable reserve of the NT writers in applying the term θεός to Jesus. Nowhere in the Gospels or Epistles or the Apocalypse does one find expressions such as those of Ignatius:1 “for our God, Jesus the Christ (ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός), was conceived by Mary” (Eph. 18:2); “love for Jesus Christ, our God (ἀγάπην Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν)” (Rom. prooem.); “permit me to be an imitator of the passion of my God (τοῦ πάθους τοῦ θεοῦ μου)” (Rom. 6.3); “I give glory to Jesus Christ, the God who granted you such wisdom (Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν θεὸν … σοφίσαντα)” (Smyr. 1:1).2 And in the spurious fourth Oration against the Arians, Pseudo-Athanasius inveighs principally against the Marcellians in a treatise that begins “the Word is God from God (ἐκ θεοῦ θεός ἐστιν ὁ λόγος)”3 and closes “so then he himself is God the Word. So Christ is the God-man, born of Mary (εἶτα οὖν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς λόγος. Χριστὸς οὖν ὁ ἐκ Μαρίας θεὸς ἄνθρωπος).”4

The questions that arise jostle for attention. Does the NT ever parallel the boldness of Ignatius in designating Jesus as ὁ θεός?5 If the writers of the NT were persuaded of the deity of Christ, what accounts for their reticence to ascribe to him the title that, of all the divine ...