Christology

====Paul====
[[File:V&A - Raphael, St Paul Preaching in Athens (1515).jpg|thumb|[[Saint Paul]] delivering the ''[[Areopagus sermon]]'' in [[Athens]], by [[Raphael]], 1515]]
The oldest Christian sources are the writings of [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]].{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=113}} The central Christology of Paul conveys the notion of Christ's pre-existence{{sfn|Grillmeier|Bowden|1975|p=15}}{{sfn|Witherington|2009|p=106}} and the identification of Christ as ''[[Kyrios (Biblical term)|Kyrios]]''.{{sfn|Grillmeier|Bowden|1975|pp=15–19}} Both notions already existed before him in the early Christian communities, and Paul deepened them and used them for preaching in the Hellenistic communities.{{sfn|Grillmeier|Bowden|1975|p=15}}

What exactly Paul believed about the nature of Jesus cannot be determined decisively. In [[Philippians 2]], Paul states that Jesus was preexistent and came to Earth "by taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness". This sounds like an [[Incarnation (Christianity)|incarnation]] Christology. In Romans 1:4, however, Paul states that Jesus "was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead", which sounds like an [[Adoptionism|adoptionistic]] Christology, where Jesus was a human being who was "adopted" after his death. Different views would be debated for centuries by Christians and finally settled on the idea that he was both fully human and fully divine by the middle of the 5th century in the [[Council of Ephesus]]. Paul's thoughts on Jesus' teachings, versus his nature and being, are more defined, in that Paul believed Jesus was sent as an [[atonement]] for the sins of everyone.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Paul and Palestinian Judaism|last = Sanders|first = E.&nbsp;P. |publisher = Fortress Press|year = 1977 |isbn = 978-0-8006-1899-5|location = Minneapolis}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dunn |first=James D.&nbsp;G. |author-link=James Dunn (theologian) |title=Jesus, Paul, and the Law: Studies in Mark and Galatians |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |location=Louisville, Kentucky |year=1990 |isbn=0-664-25095-5 |pages=1–7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d76vmNlbuBwC&pg=PA1 |access-date=15 May 2020 |archive-date=14 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231214055552/https://books.google.com/books?id=d76vmNlbuBwC&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Britannica">{{cite web |first1=E. P. |last1=Sanders |title=St. Paul the Apostle – Theological views |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Paul-the-Apostle/Theological-views |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=15 May 2020 |language=en |archive-date=26 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026040558/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Paul-the-Apostle/Theological-views |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Pauline epistles]] use ''Kyrios'' to identify Jesus almost 230 times, and express the theme that the true mark of a Christian is the confession of Jesus as the true Lord.{{sfn|O'Collins|2009|p=142}} Paul viewed the superiority of the Christian revelation over all other divine manifestations as a consequence of the fact that Christ is the [[Son of God]].<ref group=web name="CathEncycl_Christology" />

The Pauline epistles also advanced the "[[cosmic Christ]]ology"{{refn|group=note|The concept of "cosmic Christology", first elaborated by [[Saint Paul]], focuses on how the arrival of Jesus as the [[Son of God]] forever changed the nature of the [[cosmos]].{{sfn|Grillmeier|Bowden|1975|pp=15–19}}<ref name="Jesus page 282">Larry R. Helyer (2008). ''The Witness of Jesus, Paul and John: An Exploration in Biblical Theology''. {{ISBN|0-8308-2888-5}} p. 282</ref>}} later developed in the Gospel of John,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Enslin|first1=Morton S.|title=John and Jesus|journal=[[Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft|ZNW]]|date=1975|volume=66|issue=1–2|pages=1–18|doi=10.1515/zntw.1975.66.1-2.1|s2cid=162364599|issn=1613-009X|quote=[Per the Gospel of John] No longer is John [the Baptizer] an independent preacher. He is but a voice, or, to change the figure, a finger pointing to Jesus. The baptism story is not told, although it is referred to (John 1:32f). But the baptism of Jesus is deprived of any significance for Jesus – not surprising since the latter has just been introduced as the preexistent Christ, who had been the effective agent responsible for the world's creation. (Enslin, p. 4)}}</ref> elaborating the cosmic implications of Jesus' existence as the Son of God: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Corinthians|5:17|KJV}}</ref> Paul writes that Christ came to draw all back to God: "Through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven" (Colossians 1:20);<ref>{{bibleverse|Colossians|1:20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zupez|first=John|date=2014|title=Celebrating God's Plan of Creation/Salvation|journal=Emmanuel|volume=120|pages=356–359}}</ref> in the same epistle, he writes that "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation" (Colossians 1:15).<ref>{{bibleverse|Colossians|1:15|KJV}}</ref>{{sfn|Grillmeier|Bowden|1975|pp=15–19}}<ref name="Jesus page 282"/>