One God, One Lord

Professor Hurtado traces the rise of ideas of Christ's divinity to Jewish sources. He shows that Christians naturally relied on Jewish concepts of a principal angelic helper to God to understand the meaning of Jesus' mission ... Christians worshipped their mediator figure, thus ensuring an eventual break with Judaism ... one of the most interesting Christologies of the decade. -- Alan F. Segal, Columbia University, USA This book has had a huge and salutary influence in the study of early Christology. It remains essential reading for anyone interested in that subject. The new edition is very welcome indeed. * Richard Bauckham, University of Cambridge, UK * Since its initial publication in 1988, this book has become somewhat of a classic for anyone interested in Christian origins. Now supplemented by a timely interaction with conversation partners from the last two decades, Hurtado's readable, clear, and carefully formulated arguments regarding the rise of devotion to Jesus will continue to steer discussion of New Testament Christology during the coming years. A must read! * Loren Stuckenbruck, LMU, Germany * Larry Hurtado's seminal study, One Lord, One God, advanced the case that devotion to Jesus arose early and in Jewish Christian circles. That this thesis no longer seems implausible or novel is due in large measure to this book, as well as to Hurtado's continued contributions to the study of the practices of Jesus-devotion in earliest Christianity. The updated material provided with this third edition makes the book fresh and continually useful for those interested in understanding Hurtado's argument in its context and the impact that it has continued to make. * Marianne Meye Thompson, Fuller Theological Seminary, USA *

Larry W. Hurtado is Professor Emeritus of New Testament Language and Literature at the University of Edinburgh, UK.

Preface Abbreviations Introduction 1. The Problem 2. Early Christology and Chronology 3. Excursus 4. Complexity in Ancient Judaism 5. The Historical Approach 6. Excursus 7. One God and Devotion to Jesus Ch. 1: Divine Agency in Ancient Jewish Monotheism 1. Divine Agency Speculation 2. The Shape of Postexilic Jewish Religious Devotion 3. Angelology and Monotheism 4. Monotheism and Other Divine Agents 5. Summary Ch. 2: Personified Divine Attributes as Divine Agents 1. Personified Divine Attributes 2. The Language of Divine Agency Ch. 3: Exalted Patriarchs as Divine Agents 1. Enoch Speculations 2. Exalted Moses Traditions 3. Other Exalted Patriarchs 4. Exalted Patriarchs and Jewish Religious Devotion Ch. 4: Principal Angels 1. Angelology and Christology in Previous Studies 2. Principal Angels in Ancient Judaism 3. Chief Angels and God 4. Summary Ch. 5: The Early Christian Mutation 1. Jesus as God's Chief Agent 2. The Christian Mutation 3. Causes of the Christian Mutation 4. Summary Conclusions Notes Index of Ancient Sources Index of Authors