How God Became Jesus: The Real Origins of Belief in Jesus' Divine Nature---A Response to Bart D. Ehrman - Softcover

Bird, Michael F.; Evans, Craig A.; Gathercole, Simon; Hill, Charles E.; Tilling, Chris

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0310519594 ISBN 13: 9780310519591

Publisher: Zondervan Academic, 2014

Synopsis

In his recent book How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher From Galilee historian Bart Ehrman explores a claim that resides at the heart of the Christian faith― that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, God. According to Ehrman, though, this is not what the earliest disciples believed, nor what Jesus claimed about himself. 

The first response book to this latest challenge to Christianity from Ehrman, How God Became Jesus features the work of five internationally recognized biblical scholars. While subjecting his claims to critical scrutiny, they offer a better, historically informed account of why the Galilean preacher from Nazareth came to be hailed as “the Lord Jesus Christ.” Namely, they contend, the exalted place of Jesus in belief and worship is clearly evident in the earliest Christian sources, shortly following his death, and was not simply the invention of the church centuries later.

About this title

About the Authors

Michael F. Bird (PhD, University of Queensland) is Deputy Principal and Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College, Australia. He is the author of numerous scholarly and popular books on the New Testament and theology, including Evangelical Theology, Seven Things I Wish Christians Knew about the Bible, and with N. T. Wright,?The New Testament in Its World.

Craig A. Evans (PhD, Claremont; DHabil, Károli Gáspár) is the John Bisango Distinguished Professor of Christian Origins at Houston Christian University.

Simon Gathercole is Senior Lecturer in New Testament at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, UK, and author of several books, including The Pre-existent Son: Recovering the Christologies of Matthew, Mark and Luke (Eerdmans, 2006).

Charles E. Hill (PhD, Cambridge) is John R. Richardson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando and author of several books, including Who Chose the Gospels?: Probing the Great Gospel Conspiracy (Oxford, 2010).

 

 

Reviews

In 2014, well-known author of biblical exegesis, Bart D. Ehrman published How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee. In it, he posits that the concept of Jesus as God evolved over time. Five biblical scholars gather here to refute that theory. Although it’s preferable to have read Ehrman’s book before tackling this one, the authors do a relatively even-handed job of stating Ehrman’s case before attempting to demolish it. The topics they discuss include divinization in the ancient world, the Christological claims of the synoptic Gospels, and burial practices at the time of Jesus’ death (even those sympathetic to Ehrman’s case would probably agree that his discussion of the empty tomb contains too much conjecture.) This book, while putting forth arguments well worth examining, is weakened by the fact it contains five voices, and dry, scholarly ones at that. Ehrman has mastered the art of writing in a style suitable for general audiences, making his book more accessible. Still, the two deserve consideration together, and the publisher of this volume has cleverly used a cover image in the same style and color as Ehrman’s book, which may help lead interested readers in the right direction. --Ilene Cooper

Edition details

• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0310519594
• ISBN 13: 9780310519591
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240