The Great Angel: A Study of Israel's Second God - Softcover

Barker, Margaret

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0664253954 ISBN 13: 9780664253950

Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992

Synopsis

What did "Son of God," "Messiah," and "Lord," mean to the first Christians when they used these words to describe their beliefs about Jesus? In this book Margaret Barker explores the possibility that, in the expectations and traditions of first-century Palestine, these titles belonged together, and that the first Christians fit Jesus' identity into an existing pattern of belief. She claims that pre-Christian Judaism was not monotheistic and that the roots of Christian Trinitarian theology lie in a pre-Christian Palestinian belief about angels--a belief derived from the ancient religion of Israel, in which there was a "High God" and several "Sons of God." Yahweh was a son of God, manifested on earth in human form as an angel or in the Davidic King. Jesus was a manifestation of Yahweh, and was acknowledged as Son of God, Messiah, and Lord. Barker relies on canonical and deutero-canonical works and literature from Qumran and rabbinic sources to present her thoughtful investigation.

About this title

About the Author:

Margaret Baker is a Methodist preacher and biblical scholar. A former president of the Society for Old Testament Study, in July 2008 she was awarded a Doctor of Divinity Lambeth degree by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

About this edition

• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0664253954
• ISBN 13: 9780664253950
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272