How God Became Jesus

Description

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 the Authors

Michael F. Bird is academic dean and lecturer in New Testament at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia. He is the author or editor of more than thirty books, including What Christians Ought to Believe, Seven Things I Wish Christians Knew about the Bible, and Evangelical Theology. He writes at michaelfbird.substack.com and can be followed on twitter @mbird12.

Craig A. Evans (PhD, Claremont; DHabil, Budapest) is the John Bisagno Distinguished Professor of Christian Origins at Houston Baptist University. Author and editor of more than ninety books and hundreds of articles and reviews, Evans has lectured at major universities worldwide and has regularly appeared on Dateline NBC, CBC, CTV, Day of Discovery, and in many documentaries aired on BBC, The Discovery Channel, History Channel, History Television, and National Geographic Channel speaking on the historical Jesus, the New Testament Gospels, archaeology, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Bible.

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).

Endorsements

'This is a helpful collection of essays by first-rate scholars abreast of the latest research. Anyone who wants a reliable historical account of how early Christians came to see Jesus as God should read this book.' -- Richard Bauckham, Emeritus Professor of New Testament, University of St Andrews, UK

'This set of studies comprise a readable and lively response to Ehrman's book on how Jesus came to be regarded as in some sense divine. Collectively, they identify controversial issues and offer cogently put alternative views that deserve to be noted and that show that the scholarly discussion remains in play.' -- Larry Hurtado, Emeritus Professor of New Testament Language, Literature and Theology, University of Edinburgh