John 20:28 is a controversial passage that has been explained in a sundry and diverse ways. The brilliant exegete Theodore of Mopsuestia (one who affirmed Christ's Deity) felt that John 20:28 was not addressed to the Son, but to the Father of our Lord and Savior. Of course his approach was condemned in 553 C.E. and does not have wide acceptance today, though it is certainly a probable view at the very least.
Frankly I have no problem with calling Jesus KURIOS or QEOS. Yet this doesn't mean that Jesus is Almighty God. In Col. 1:15, 16, human and angelic rulers are called KURIOTHTES. Acts 2:36 also tells us that Christ was made KURIOS--he was not always such. Yes, he was QEOS in his pre-human existence, but I think that John makes a vital distinction between the Almighty hO QEOS and the one who was QEOS (without the Greek article).
Scholar J. Gwyn Griffiths writes that QEOS in Jn 1:1c, "Taken by itself" could be rendered "And the Word was (the) God" or "and the Word was (a) God" (See "The Role of Theology and Bias in Bible Translation" by Rolf Furuli). Many students of the early fathers also know Origen thought that God with the article denotes something different than God without the article in Jn 1:1c.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Was Christ Always KURIOS?
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4 comments:
Hi Edgar.
May I have the referrence to Theodore of Mopsuestia please?
Brother Matt13:
See Migne, PG, Tomus LXVI, Synesius Episc, Theodore Mopsuestia (Paris: 1864), 783-4.
Note the link http://www.scripturaltruths.com/articles/ology/jesustheos/#_ftn40
Furuli and MJ Harris both discuss Theodore in their respective works.
Jesus has always been Lord (YHWH). Acts 2:36 does not at all contradict this truth. The same Greek word for "made" (poieĊ) is used in Isaiah 63:14. God "made" for Himself a glorious Name. This doesn't mean that there was a point in time that His Name wasn't glorious. Rather, an event further revealed what was already true. The same holds true concerning Acts 2:36. It was the resurrection that gave crowning proof that Jesus has always been "Lord" (Acts 2:21).
1) Jehovah/YHWH did make his name glorious in a way it had not previously been. The context is the exodus wherein Jehovah stated that he would make his name known to the ruler of Egypt and "in all the earth" (Exodus 9:16). Something new happened respecting God's name or reputation.
2) New things happened when Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended to heaven. He was "given" new privileges and God started to channel the holy spirit through his Son. Christ was given new authority (1 Peter 3:18-22).
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