and self-designation and the church’s preaching about Jesus. That assumption was based mostly on the Jesus of the Gospel of John. Since, it was thought, Jesus himself accepted and even used christological titles, it could be assumed that the Christology later taught by the church began with Jesus. There is direct continuity between Jesus’ self-understanding and the Christology of the church. Jesus himself is the source of the church’s Christology. More careful study of the Gospels, however, led to