One God, One Lord: Early Christian Devotion and Ancient Jewish Monotheism [Paperback]

Larry W. Hurtado (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2000

The classic and ground-breaking work in Christology, with extensive new introduction, evaluating the most recent developments in current scholarship.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Professor Hurtado’s account of the matter is admirable, clear-cut and credible." -- Theology

'... one of the most interesting Christologies of the decade.' -- Alan F. Segal

'...informative and revolutionary ...few recent books promote our understanding of early Christology so much as this volume.' -- Martin Hengel

'..The decision to republish his book is most welcome....his distinctive contribution to the debate will now be widely available.' -- I. Howard Marshall, International Journal of Systematic Theology

'The new edition...is an important book for serious students of the New Testament and of Christian doctrine.' -- Leslie Houlden, Temple Balsall, Theological Book Review

About the Author

Larry Hurtado is Professor of New Testament Language, Literature and Theology, University of Edinburgh.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: T. & T. Clark Publishers, Ltd.; 2nd Reissu edition (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0567086577
• ISBN-13: 978-0567086570
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,874,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE CHRISTIAN MUTATION: WORSHIP OF JESUS, December 10, 1999

By 

Terry B. Cullom (Memphis, Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One God, One Lord: Early Christian Devotion and Ancient Jewish Monotheism (Paperback)

In this book, Hurtado explores various "divine agency" concepts in the 2nd temple Jewish period, particularly those of: 1) personified divine attributes (e.g., Word, Wisdom), 2) exalted patriarchs, and 3) primary angels. He shows that when such figures assume a singularly unique role next to God; they are characterized by the ascription of divine qualities.

His main argument, in this context, is that in none of the extant writings do we find worship directed to a divine agent--worship is reserved for and solely directed toward God. For this reason, he claims the distinctive mutation in Christian faith is that worship is offered both to God and Christ. He makes it clear that the Jewish divine agency category does not, itself, explain why this occurred, but only that it provides a conceptual context or framework for expressing such a mutation.

In a final chapter, Hurtado offers an explanation for what caused this mutation. Basically, he discusses two key factors: 1) the historical ministry of Jesus gave rise to Jesus' distinctive role; and 2) the experiences of the early disciples were such that they were compelled to express worship toward Jesus alongside of God.

Some key issues in response to his book. 1) He does not fully delineate what he means by "worship." Without a clear definite idea of what constitutes worship, it is difficult to justify claiming Jesus as a singular exception in extant Jewish writings in the 1st century. We do, in fact, have "praise" directed to angels and exalted patriarchs in writings in this period. 2) He does not "spell out" exactly what in the experience of the disciples led them to worship Jesus, and what it means to say they "directed" worship toward Jesus. If other figures were fully accorded divine qualities, as Jesus, except for worship, then why not direct worship to these other figures as well? Hurtado and others are continuing to research this subject area. Papers from the St. Andrews Conference on the historical origins of worship of Jesus were just released for publication, in a book entitled THE JEWISH ROOTS OF CHRISTOLOGICAL MONOTHEISM.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding scholarship into earliest Christianity, September 22, 2007

By 

Jeri Nevermind "loves to read" (Idaho) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: One God, One Lord: Early Christian Devotion and Ancient Jewish Monotheism (Paperback)

Larry Hurtado has carved out a niche for himself studying the very earliest days of Christianity. This is yet another book of his on the subject, and it's interesting and full of well reasoned arguments about the missing twenty years between the death of Christ and the first epistle by Paul.

He points out that, "we must conclude that Paul's acquaintance with Christian beliefs went back even earlier than his Damascus road experience, for he must have obtained some familiarity with Jewish-Christian devotion in order to have been moved to persecute Jewish Christians for their beliefs" (p 5). And he shows that the most likely cause for persecution would be honoring Jesus as God, given the Jewish fierce opposition to any veering from monotheism.

Some of the evidence that the early Christians prayed to Jesus, sang songs to him, put him above all angels, and, most significantly, "appropriated to him titles and Old Testament passages originally referring to God" (p 11).

Hurtado shows how concern for God's utter uniqueness had grown sharply in the centuries prior to Christ (p 38). Yet in 1 Corinthians Paul says that Christ will have every rule, power, and authority. Taking all the evidence in the early epistles, it is clear that Paul raises Jesus to the status of God. "This reshaping of Jewish monotheistic devotion began among Jewish Christians of the first few years after Jesus' execution and cannot be attributed simply to some later stage of the Christian movement" (p 100).

Among the most striking practices of the early Christians were hymns to Christ, prayers to him, the very use of the name Christ which indicated his status as the messiah, and the practice of the Lord's supper.

High recommended.

11 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Useful for Trinitarians and Unitarians, January 3, 2007

By 

S. Pompa (Maryland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: One God, One Lord: Early Christian Devotion and Ancient Jewish Monotheism (Paperback)

This book is certainly one of the more sober treatments of Christology on the market. Hurtado shows how the very earliest Christians viewed Jesus as God's chief agent; the one who functions for God, often in the place of God. While Hurtado shows that angels and exalted patriarchs like Moses or Enoch could be thought of in similar ways, he does show how what was accorded Jesus was unique because (a) Jesus' "share" of functions is far greater than what was given other figures of the past (see esp. Phil. 2:9), and (b) because he was venerated (I hesitate to use the word "worshipped") along side God in an unprecedented way.

I give it only 3 stars (1) because of his treatment of so-called preexistence texts in Paul (like I Cor 8:6; he does not interact with any opposing literature) in which he just assumes the traditional interpretations are the right ones, and (2) because he seems to think that the Gospel of John, Revelation, and the disputed Paulines are historically trustworthy in the study of earliest Christianity, putting them on equal footing with the Synoptics or the undisputed Paulines.

I say above that this book is useful for both Trinitarians and Unitarians because Hurtado never comes right out and says that Jesus was thought of as God by the earliest Christians. Indeed, the evidence points otherwise. However, he, like Dunn, Richardson, Wright, and others indicate that what the original Christians said could be taken on a Trinitarian path; that adoring God's agent in the context of monotheism will eventually cause "the dam to burst", and sooner or later, a Trinitarian understanding of God will emerge.

But this is not necessarily the case. If Paul, and others, can hold that sort of tension in their head--that God and his agent were to be revered yet clearly distinguished, and this is clearly their belief--there is nothing to say that we *must* go down a Trinitarian road. Therefore, both Trinitarians and Unitarians can learn a lot from this book.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that most scholars do not agree with Hurtado that Jesus was actually worshipped by the earliest communities of Jewish Christians. While it is clear that Jesus functions as God's chief agent--albeit in an unprecedented way that essentially amounts to (at least) a functional equality with God--and while it is equally clear that Jesus was venerated along with God the Father in a unique way, that may not amount to worship, as the full range of (for example) Paul's writings will show. Clearly, the earliest Christians stopped slightly short of full-scale worship of Jesus. Nevertheless, this book shows how that reserve could be quickly (and rightly?) lost, and answers the question as to how the Church came to view Jesus as divine, and thus how the Church arrived at the Trinity doctrine.