The term "Son of God"

[Elijah John]

What did the term "Son of God" mean in a Jewish context?

Is it reasonable to surmise that the earliest Christians (who were Jews) meant the term the way Jews mean the term, or did they really mean "God the Son", as Trinitarians would say that Jesus is "God the Son"?

[The Tanager]

[Replying to post 1 by Elijah John]

Are you saying that the Trinitarian viewpoint came out of that phrase?

[Red Wolf]

What did the term "Son of God" mean in a Jewish context?

Is it reasonable to surmise that the earliest Christians (who were Jews) meant the term the way Jews mean the term, or did they really mean "God the Son", as Trinitarians would say that Jesus is "God the Son"?

Adam was a Son of God and he was not a God.
Luke 3:38King James Version (KJV)
38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

Israel was a Son of God and he was not a God.
Exodus 4:22-23King James Version (KJV)
22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
Deuteronomy 14:1-2King James Version (KJV)
14 Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
2 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

Solomon was a Son of God and he was not a God.
1 Chronicles 22:9-10King James Version (KJV)
9 Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.
10 He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.
1 Chronicles 28:6King James Version (KJV)
6 And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.

King David was a Son of God
“I have found David My servant;
With My holy oil I have anointed him,
21 With whom My hand will be established;
My arm also will strengthen him.
22 “The enemy will not deceive him,
Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
23 “But I shall crush his adversaries before him,
And strike those who hate him.
24 “My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him,
And in My name his horn will be exalted.
25 “I shall also set his hand on the sea
And his right hand on the rivers.
26 “He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,
My God, and the rock of my salvation.’
27 “I also shall make him My firstborn,
The highest of the kings of the earth.

Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.


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[Elijah John]

[Replying to post 1 by Elijah John]

Are you saying that the Trinitarian viewpoint came out of that phrase?

Good question.

Not the phrase, per se. But I think Trinitarians took the concept of "Son of God" and turned it into "God the Son" though as Red Wolf points out the latter is found nowhere in Scripture.

[The Tanager]

[Replying to post 4 by Elijah John]

I remember learning that the early use of "Son of God" usually refers to Jesus' humanity by early Christians, whereas "Son of Man" was seen as a Divine title.

When do you think Trinitarians turning "Son of God" into "God the Son" historically happened? What sources are you drawing this conclusion from?

[Elijah John]

[Replying to post 4 by Elijah John]

I remember learning that the early use of "Son of God" usually refers to Jesus' humanity by early Christians, whereas "Son of Man" was seen as a Divine title.

When do you think Trinitarians turning "Son of God" into "God the Son" historically happened? What sources are you drawing this conclusion from?

Most likely from the days of Athanasius, with the formulation of that Trinitarian creed. The Church seemed split before that with a significant Arian faction who taught high Christology, but did not believe Jesus was "God".

How far back Trinitarian thought goes I'm not sure. Paul seems to have been a proto-Trinitarian and used the term "Christ" freely where one would expect a true Monotheist to use "Father" "God" or "YHVH" instead. "For me to live is Christ.." instead of "for me to live is YHVH" as one would expect rom a true Monotheist.

Paul's God seems to have been "Christ" and he only paid the Father lip service by comparison. His heart was always with "Christ".

So Paul seems to have fallen into a grey area between true Monotheism and nascent Trinitarianism.

And the early Christian communities who wrote and followed the teachings of Jesus found in the Didache (echoes of the Sermon on the Mount) were in no way Trinitarian, neither was the Jerusalem church of the followers of James the Just.

So how far back do you think Trinitarianism goes, with phrases like "God the Son"?.

[The Tanager]

[Replying to post 6 by Elijah John]

I think the thoughts behind Trinitarianism goes back to the earliest Christian records we have and that people like Athanasius formalized language later to delineate their view from others with more philosophical clarity.

[Smythe]

The notion of Jesus as "God" goes back at least to the prologue of the Gospel of John, late 1st or early 2nd century.

But the author here was influenced by Hellenic thought, not traditional Jewish monotheism.

It is also worth noting that the influence of Greek philosophy on Judaism predates Christianity, as for example Philo who was roughly a contemporary of Jesus. One result of the cosmopolitization due to the Roman empire was a dissemination and mixing of all sorts of religious ideas.

As I understand it, the later debates associated with Athanasius and Nicaea had less to do with the divinity of Jesus than the nature of his divinity ("same substance" vs "similar substance"), as well as whether the Son was a created being or was co-eternal with the Father.

[brianbbs67]

Have ye not heard?

Psalm 82:6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. 7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

[Elijah John]

The notion of Jesus as "God" goes back at least to the prologue of the Gospel of John, late 1st or early 2nd century.

But the author here was influenced by Hellenic thought, not traditional Jewish monotheism.

Yes, there's the prologue. But John 17.3 indicates the author still adhered to some traditional Jewish Monotheism.

It is also worth noting that the influence of Greek philosophy on Judaism predates Christianity, as for example Philo who was roughly a contemporary of Jesus. One result of the cosmopolitization due to the Roman empire was a dissemination and mixing of all sorts of religious ideas.

What did Philo say in that regard? Also, any examples of Greek influence in "Old" Testament writings?

As I understand it, the later debates associated with Athanasius and Nicaea had less to do with the divinity of Jesus than the nature of his divinity ("same substance" vs "similar substance"), as well as whether the Son was a created being or was co-eternal with the Father.

Good point. But I struggle with accepting the notion that a created being can be "Divine". Isn't God by definition the Creator? Except perhaps, in various pantheons where there is a "high God". Were any of the earliest Christian sects immune from this notion that Jesus was the "firstborn of all Creation by whom all things were created"? That revered Jesus as only as a man, prophet and Messiah?