Christology

==Early Christologies (1st century)==
{{See also|Christ (title)|l1=|Resurrection#Christianity|l2=Resurrection|Session of Christ|l3=Exaltation of Christ|Pre-existence of Christ|l4=Pre-existence of Christ|Incarnation (Christianity)|l5=Incarnation of Christ}}

===Early notions of Christ===
The earliest christological reflections were shaped by both the Jewish background of the earliest Christians, and by the Greek world of the eastern Mediterranean in which they operated.{{sfn|McGrath|2006|pp=137–141}}<ref group=web name="EB_Christology"/>{{refn|group=note|[[Early Christians]] found themselves confronted with a set of new concepts and ideas relating to the life, death, and [[resurrection of Jesus]], as well the notions of [[Salvation in Christianity|salvation]] and [[Redeemer (Christianity)|redemption]], and had to use a new set of terms, images, and ideas in order to deal with them.{{sfn|McGrath|2006|pp=137–141}} The existing terms and structures which were available to them were often insufficient to express these religious concepts, and taken together, these new forms of discourse led to the beginnings of Christology as an attempt to understand, explain, and discuss their understanding of the nature of Christ.{{sfn|McGrath|2006|pp=137–141}} Early Jewish Christians had to explain their concepts to a Hellenistic audience which had been influenced by Greek philosophy, presenting arguments that at times resonated with, and at times confronted, the beliefs of that audience. This is exemplified by the [[Apostle Paul]]'s [[Areopagus sermon]] that appears in Acts 17:16–34,<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|17:16–34}}</ref> where Paul is portrayed as attempting to convey the underlying concepts about Christ to a Greek audience. The sermon illustrates some key elements of future christological discourses that were first brought forward by Paul.{{sfn|McGrath|2006|pp=137–41}}<ref>''Creation and redemption: a study in Pauline theology'' by John G. Gibbs 1971 Brill Publishers pp. 151–153</ref><ref name=Watson >''Mercer Commentary on the New Testament'' by Watson E. Mills 2003 {{ISBN|0-86554-864-1}} pp. 1109–1110</ref>}} The earliest Christian writings give several titles to Jesus, such as [[Son of Man]], [[Son of God]], [[Messiah]], and ''[[Kyrios]]'', which were all derived from Hebrew scripture.<ref group=web name="EB_Christology"/>{{sfn|Brown|2004|p=4}} According to Matt Stefon and Hans J. Hillerbrand:

{{Blockquote|Until the middle of the 2nd century, such terms emphasized two themes: that of Jesus as a preexistent figure who becomes human and then returns to God and that of Jesus as a creature elected and "adopted" by God. The first theme makes use of concepts drawn from Classical antiquity, whereas the second relies on concepts characteristic of ancient Jewish thought. The second theme subsequently became the basis of "adoptionist Christology" (see [[adoptionism]]), which viewed Jesus' baptism as a crucial event in his adoption by God.<ref group=web name="EB_Christology"/>}}

Historically in the [[Alexandrian school]] of thought (fashioned on the [[Gospel of John]]), Jesus Christ is the eternal ''[[Logos (Christianity)|Logos]]'' who already possesses unity with the Father before the act of [[Incarnation]].<ref name=Waldrop >Charles T. Waldrop (1985). ''Karl Barth's christology'' {{ISBN|90-279-3109-7}} pp. 19–23</ref> In contrast, the [[Antiochian school]] viewed Christ as a single, unified human person apart from his relationship to the divine.<ref name=Waldrop />{{refn|group=note|The views of these schools can be summarized as follows:<ref name=Bromo50>''Historical Theology: An Introduction'' by Geoffrey W. Bromiley 2000 {{ISBN|0567223574}} pp. 50–51</ref>
* Alexandria: ''Logos'' assumes a general human nature;
* Antioch: ''Logos'' assumes a specific human being.}}

====Pre-existence====
The notion of pre-existence is deeply rooted in Jewish thought, and can be found in apocalyptic thought and among the rabbis of Paul's time,{{sfn|Grillmeier|Bowden|1975|p=15}} but Paul was most influenced by Jewish-Hellenistic wisdom literature, where {{"'}}Wisdom' is extolled as something existing before the world and already working in creation.{{sfn|Grillmeier|Bowden|1975|p=15}} According to Witherington, Paul "subscribed to the christological notion that Christ existed prior to taking on human flesh[,] founding the story of Christ{{nbsp}}[...] on the story of divine Wisdom".{{sfn|Witherington|2009|p=106}}{{refn|group=note|Witherington: "[Christ's Divinity] We have already seen that Paul, in appropriating the language of the christological hymns, subscribed to the christological notion that Christ existed prior to taking on human flesh. Paul spoke of Jesus both as the wisdom of God, his agent in creation (1 Cor 1:24, 30; 8:6; Col 1:15–17; see Bruce, 195), and as the one who accompanied Israel as the 'rock' in the wilderness (1 Cor 10:4). In view of the role Christ plays in 1 Corinthians 10:4, Paul is {{em|not}} founding the story of Christ on the archetypal story of Israel, but rather on the story of divine Wisdom, which helped Israel in the wilderness."{{sfn|Witherington|2009|p=106}}}}

====''Kyrios''====
The title ''[[Kyrios]]'' for Jesus is central to the development of [[New Testament]] Christology.<ref name="MiniJohnson"/> In the [[Septuagint]] it translates the [[Tetragrammaton]], the holy Name of God. As such, it closely links Jesus with God – in the same way a verse such as [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 28:19, "The Name (singular) of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit".<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|28:19|NIV}}</ref>

''Kyrios'' is also conjectured to be the Greek translation of [[Aramaic]] {{transliteration|arc|Mari}}, which in everyday Aramaic usage was a very respectful form of polite address, which means more than just 'teacher' and was somewhat similar to '[[rabbi]]'. While the term {{transliteration|arc|Mari}} expressed the relationship between Jesus and his disciples during his life, the Greek ''Kyrios'' came to represent his lordship over the world.<ref name="Cullmann2">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=79Zovlpi8uQC&dq=mari+aramaic+jesus&pg=PA202 |title=The Christology of the New Testament |date=1959-01-01 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |isbn=978-0-664-24351-7 |pages=202 |language=en |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408105043/https://books.google.com/books?id=79Zovlpi8uQC&dq=mari+aramaic+jesus&pg=PA202 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Early Christianity|early Christians]] placed ''Kyrios'' at the center of their understanding, and from that center attempted to understand the other issues related to the Christian mysteries.<ref name="MiniJohnson">{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Mini S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Aa3yRbs0tisC&dq=Kyrios+christology&pg=PA231 |title=Christology: Biblical And Historical |date=2005-01-01 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-8324-007-9 |pages=229–235 |language=en |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405041637/https://books.google.com/books?id=Aa3yRbs0tisC&dq=Kyrios+christology&pg=PA231 |url-status=live }}</ref> The question of the deity of Christ in the New Testament is inherently related to the ''Kyrios'' title of Jesus used in the early Christian writings and its implications for the absolute lordship of Jesus. In early Christian belief, the concept of ''Kyrios'' included the [[pre-existence of Christ]], for they believed if Christ is one with God, he must have been united with God from the very beginning.<ref name=MiniJohnson /><ref name="Cullmann">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=79Zovlpi8uQC&dq=Kyrios&pg=PA234 |title=The Christology of the New Testament |date=1959-01-01 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |isbn=978-0-664-24351-7 |pages=234–237 |language=en |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164811/https://books.google.com/books?id=79Zovlpi8uQC&dq=Kyrios&pg=PA234 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Development of "low Christology" and "high Christology"===
{{Main|Exaltation of Jesus}}

Two fundamentally different Christologies developed in the early Church, namely a "low" or [[Adoptionism|adoptionist]] Christology, and a "high" or "incarnation" Christology.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=125}} The chronology of the development of these early Christologies is a matter of debate within contemporary scholarship.{{sfn|Loke|2017}}{{sfn|Ehrman|2014}}{{sfn|Talbert|2011|p=3-6}}<ref group=web name="Hurtado.2017"/>

The "low Christology" or "adoptionist Christology" is the belief "that God exalted Jesus to be his Son by raising him from the dead",{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|pp=120; 122}} thereby raising him to "divine status".<ref group=web name=BE_2013.02.14>{{cite web|last1=Ehrman|first1=Bart D.|author-link1=Bart D. Ehrman|title=Incarnation Christology, Angels, and Paul|url=https://ehrmanblog.org/incarnation-christology-angels-and-paul-for-members/|website=The Bart Ehrman Blog|access-date=2 May 2018|date=14 February 2013|archive-date=22 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422062124/https://ehrmanblog.org/incarnation-christology-angels-and-paul-for-members/|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the "evolutionary model"{{sfn|Netland|2001|p=175}} or evolutionary theories,{{sfn|Loke|2017|p=3}} the Christological understanding of Jesus developed over time,{{sfn|Mack|1995}}{{sfn|Ehrman|2003}}<ref name="Ehrman_HJBG_CG">Bart Ehrman, ''How Jesus became God'', Course Guide</ref> as witnessed in the Gospels,{{sfn|Ehrman|2014}} with the earliest Christians believing that Jesus was a human who was exalted, or else adopted as God's Son,{{sfn|Loke|2017|pp=3–4}}{{sfn|Talbert|2011|p=3}} when he was resurrected.<ref name="Ehrman_HJBG_CG"/><ref>Geza Vermez (2008), ''The Resurrection'', pp. 138–139</ref> Later beliefs shifted the exaltation to his baptism, birth, and subsequently to the idea of his pre-existence, as witnessed in the Gospel of John.<ref name="Ehrman_HJBG_CG"/> This "evolutionary model" was proposed by proponents of the {{lang|de|Religionsgeschichtliche Schule}}, especially [[Wilhelm Bousset]]'s influential ''Kyrios Christos'' (1913).{{sfn|Loke|2017|pp=3–4}} This evolutionary model was very influential, and the "low Christology" has long been regarded as the oldest Christology.{{sfn|Bird|2017|pp=ix, xi}}{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=132}}<ref group=web name=BE_2013.02.14/>{{refn|group=note|Ehrman:
* "The earliest Christians held exaltation Christologies in which the human being Jesus was made the Son of God{{snd}}for example, at his resurrection or at his baptism{{snd}}as we examined in the previous chapter."{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=132}}
* "Here I'll say something about the oldest Christology, as I understand it. This was what I earlier called a 'low' Christology. I may end up in the book describing it as a 'Christology from below' or possibly an 'exaltation' Christology. Or maybe I'll call it all three things{{nbsp}}[...] Along with lots of other scholars, I think this was indeed the earliest Christology."<ref group=web>[Bart Ehrman (6 February 2013), [https://ehrmanblog.org/the-earliest-christology-for-members/ "The Earliest Christology"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228191856/https://ehrmanblog.org/the-earliest-christology-for-members/ |date=28 February 2019 }}</ref>}}

The other early Christology is "high Christology", which is "the view that Jesus was a pre-existent divine being who became a human, did the Father's will on earth, and then was taken back up into heaven whence he had originally come",<ref group=web name=BE_2013.02.14/>{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=122}} and from where he [[Christophany|appeared on earth]].{{refn|group=note|name="Christophany"}} According to Bousset, this "high Christology" developed at the time of Paul's writing, under the influence of Gentile Christians, who brought their pagan Hellenistic traditions to the early Christian communities, introducing divine honours to Jesus.{{sfn|Loke|2017|p=4}} According to Casey and Dunn, this "high Christology" developed after the time of Paul, at the end of the first century CE when the [[Gospel of John]] was written.{{sfn|Loke|2017|pp=4–5}}

Since the 1970s, these late datings for the development of a "high Christology" have been contested,{{sfn|Loke|2017|p=5}} and a majority of scholars argue that this "high Christology" existed already before the writings of Paul.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=125}}{{refn|group=note|Richard Bauckham argues that Paul was not so influential that he could have invented the central doctrine of Christianity. Before his active missionary work, there were already groups of Christians across the region. For example, a large group already existed in Rome even before Paul visited the place. The earliest centre of Christianity was the twelve apostles in Jerusalem. Paul himself consulted and sought guidance from the Christian leaders in Jerusalem (Galatians 2:1–2;<ref>{{bibleverse|Galatians|2:1–2}}</ref> Acts 9:26–28,<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|9:26–28}}</ref> 15:2).<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|15:2}}</ref> "What was common to the whole Christian movement derived from Jerusalem, not from Paul, and Paul himself derived the central message he preached from the Jerusalem apostles."{{sfn|Bauckham|2011|pp=110–111}}}} According to the "New {{lang|de|Religionsgeschichtliche Schule}}",{{sfn|Loke|2017|p=5}}<ref group="web">{{Cite web |date=2015-07-10 |title="Early High Christology": A "Paradigm Shift"? "New Perspective"? |url=https://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2015/07/10/early-high-christology-a-paradigm-shift-new-perspective/ |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=Larry Hurtado's Blog |language=en |archive-date=1 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301140350/https://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2015/07/10/early-high-christology-a-paradigm-shift-new-perspective/ |url-status=live }}</ref> or the Early High Christology Club,<ref group=web name="Bouma.2014"/> which includes [[Martin Hengel]], [[Larry Hurtado]], [[N. T. Wright]], and [[Richard Bauckham]],{{sfn|Loke|2017|p=5}}<ref group=web name="Bouma.2014"/> this "incarnation Christology" or "high Christology" did not evolve over a longer time, but was a "big bang" of ideas which were already present at the start of Christianity, and took further shape in the first few decades of the church, as witnessed in the writings of Paul.{{sfn|Loke|2017|p=5}}<ref group=web name="Bouma.2014">{{cite web|last=Bouma|first=Jeremy|title=The Early High Christology Club and Bart Ehrman – An Excerpt from 'How God Became Jesus'|url=https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/how-god-became-jesus-bart-ehrman-high-christology-excerpt/|website=Zondervan Academic Blog|publisher=[[HarperCollins]] Christian Publishing|access-date=2 May 2018|date=27 March 2014|archive-date=21 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421232807/https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/how-god-became-jesus-bart-ehrman-high-christology-excerpt/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref group=web name=BE_2013.02.14/>{{refn|group=note|name="Loke2017"|Loke (2017): "The last group of theories can be called 'Explosion Theories' (one might also call this 'the Big-Bang theory of Christology'!). This proposes that highest Christology {{em|was}} the view of the primitive Palestinian Christian community. The recognition of Jesus as truly divine was not a significant development from the views of the primitive Palestine community; rather, it 'exploded' right at the beginning of Christianity. The proponents of the Explosion view would say that the highest Christology of the later New Testament writings (e.g. Gospel of John) and the creedal formulations of the early church fathers, with their explicit affirmations of the pre-existence and ontological divinity of Christ, are not so much a development in essence but a development in understanding and explication of what was already there at the beginning of the Christian movement. As Bauckham (2008a, x) memorably puts it, 'The earliest Christology was already the highest Christology.' Many proponents of this group of theories have been labelled together as 'the New {{lang|de|Religionsgeschichtliche Schule}}' (Hurtado 2003, 11), and they include such eminent scholars as [[Richard Bauckham]], [[Larry Hurtado]], [[N. T. Wright]] and the late [[Martin Hengel]]."{{sfn|Loke|2017|p=5}}}} Some 'Early High Christology' proponents scholars argue that this "high Christology" may go back to Jesus himself.{{sfn|Loke|2017|p=6}}<ref group="web" name="Hurtado.2017">{{Cite web |date=2017-10-09 |title=The Origin of "Divine Christology"? |url=https://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2017/10/09/the-origin-of-divine-christology/ |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=Larry Hurtado's Blog |language=en |archive-date=27 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227182301/https://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2017/10/09/the-origin-of-divine-christology/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

There is a controversy regarding whether Jesus himself claimed to be divine. In ''[[Honest to God]]'', then-[[Bishop of Woolwich]], [[John A. T. Robinson]], questioned the idea.<ref>Robinson, John A. T. (1963), ''Honest to God'', p. 72.</ref> [[John Hick]], writing in 1993, mentioned changes in New Testament studies, citing "broad agreement" that scholars do not today support the view that Jesus claimed to be God, quoting as examples [[Michael Ramsey]] (1980), [[C. F. D. Moule]] (1977), [[James Dunn (theologian)|James Dunn]] (1980), Brian Hebblethwaite (1985) and David Brown (1985).<ref>Hick, John, ''The Metaphor of God Incarnate'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=f-QMmFx8hwcC&pg=PA27 page 27] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231214055528/https://books.google.com/books?id=f-QMmFx8hwcC&pg=PA27#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=14 December 2023 }}. "A further point of broad agreement among New Testament scholars{{nbsp}}[...] is that the historical Jesus did not make the claim to deity that later Christian thought was to make for him: he did not understand himself to be God, or God the Son, incarnate.{{nbsp}}[...] such evidence as there is has led the historians of the period to conclude, with an impressive degree of unanimity, that Jesus did not claim to be God incarnate."</ref> [[Larry Hurtado]], who argues that the followers of Jesus within a very short period developed an exceedingly high level of devotional reverence to Jesus,<ref>{{Cite book | last=Hurtado | first=Larry W. | title=How on earth did Jesus become a god?: historical questions about earliest devotion to Jesus | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xi5xIxgnNgcC&pg=PA4 | year=2005 | publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company | location=Grand Rapids, Michigan | isbn=0-8028-2861-2 | pages=4–6 | access-date=16 October 2020 | archive-date=14 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231214055528/https://books.google.com/books?id=Xi5xIxgnNgcC&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false | url-status=live }}</ref> at the same time rejects the view that Jesus made a claim to messiahship or divinity to his disciples during his life as "naive and ahistorical".{{Failed verification|date=November 2020}} According to [[Gerd Lüdemann]], the broad consensus among modern New Testament scholars is that the proclamation of the divinity of Jesus was a development within the earliest Christian communities.<ref name=gerd>[[Gerd Lüdemann]], [http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~gluedem/download/pope_review.pdf "An Embarrassing Misrepresentation"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324064642/http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~gluedem/download/pope_review.pdf |date=24 March 2019 }}, ''[[Free Inquiry]]'', October / November 2007: "the broad consensus of modern New Testament scholars that the proclamation of Jesus's exalted nature was in large measure the creation of the earliest Christian communities."</ref> [[N. T. Wright]] points out that arguments over the claims of Jesus regarding divinity have been passed over by more recent scholarship, which sees a more complex understanding of the idea of God in first century Judaism.<ref name=Wright1999>{{Cite book| last = Wright| first = N. T.| year = 1999| title = The challenge of Jesus : rediscovering who Jesus was and is| page = 98| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hice2guxStoC&pg=PA98| isbn = 0-8308-2200-3| publisher = InterVarsity Press| location = Downers Grove, Illinois| access-date = 16 October 2020| archive-date = 14 December 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231214055528/https://books.google.com/books?id=hice2guxStoC&pg=PA98| url-status = live}}</ref> However, Andrew Loke argues that if Jesus did not claim and show himself to be truly divine and rise from the dead, the earliest Christian leaders who were devout ancient monotheistic Jews would have regarded Jesus as merely a teacher or a prophet; they would not have come to the widespread agreement that he was truly divine, which they did.<ref>Andrew Ter Ern Loke, ''The Origin of Divine Christology'' (Cambridge University Press, 2017), pp. 100–135</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://ethosinstitute.sg/is-jesus-god/ |title=Is Jesus God? A Historical Evaluation Concerning the Deity of Christ |last=Loke |first=Andrew |website=Ethos Institute |date=18 February 2019 |access-date=September 8, 2022 |archive-date=8 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220908110417/https://ethosinstitute.sg/is-jesus-god/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===New Testament writings===
The study of the various Christologies of the [[Apostolic Age]] is based on early Christian documents.{{sfn|O'Collins|2009|pp=1–3}}

====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"/>

====The Gospels====
[[File:The Four Evangelists.jpg|thumb|left|''The [[Four Evangelists]]'', by [[Pieter Soutman]], 17th century]]

The [[synoptic Gospels]] date from after the writings of Paul. They provide episodes from the life of Jesus and some of his works, but the authors of the New Testament show little interest in an absolute chronology of Jesus or in synchronizing the episodes of his life,<ref name=Rahner731 >[[Karl Rahner]] (2004). ''Encyclopedia of theology: a concise Sacramentum mundi'' {{ISBN|0-86012-006-6}} p. 731</ref> and as in [[wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/John#21:25|John 21:25]], the Gospels do not claim to be an exhaustive list of his works.{{sfn|O'Collins|2009|pp=1–3}}

Christologies that can be gleaned from the three [[Synoptic Gospels]] generally emphasize the humanity of Jesus, his sayings, his [[Parables of Jesus|parables]], and his [[Miracles of Jesus|miracles]]. The [[Gospel of John]] provides a different perspective that focuses on his divinity.<ref group=web name="CathEncycl_Christology" /> The first 14 verses of the Gospel of John are devoted to the divinity of Jesus as the ''[[Logos (Christianity)|Logos]]'', usually translated as "Word", along with his pre-existence, and they emphasize the cosmic significance of Christ, e.g.: "All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made."<ref>{{bibleverse|John|1:3|KJV}}</ref> In the context of these verses, the Word made flesh is identical with the Word who was in the beginning with God, being exegetically equated with Jesus.<ref group=web name="CathEncycl_Christology" />