Son of God

Son of God
A title of the king in the OT (e.g. Ps. 2:7), and in the plural form it is applied to faithful Jews (Wisd. 9:7). It is a Messianic title in the Dead Sea scrolls and in 4 Ezra (7:28). Although Christians attributed divine Sonship to Jesus as Messiah after the resurrection, the tendency was to push its usage ever earlier—to the baptism by John [[➝ John the Baptist]] (Mark 1:11) and the Transfiguration [[➝ transfiguration]] (Mark 9:7), or even before his birth. According to Paul (Rom. 1:4 and also John 1:18) Jesus was designated ‘Son of God’. This could mean that a pre-existent divine being entered human life and functioned in the person of Jesus. At any rate according to Matt. 1:18–25 the beginning of Jesus' life was an act in which God took the initiative. A saying is recorded in which Jesus refers to God as his Father (Mark 13:32). At the end of the gospel (Matt. 27:54, following Mark 15:39) the centurion makes the Christian confession of faith. If he in fact spoke such words, he may have said, ‘He is a son of God’ (there is no definite article in the Greek) meaning a divine being in the pagan sense; the emperor Augustus had the title ‘Son of God’ after his adoptive father Julius Caesar had been deified by decree of the Roman senate in 42 BCE. For the Christian readers of the gospels the importance was in the words being an unsolicited witness to what they themselves believed. It is a Christological title in the epistles of Paul (e.g. Gal. 4:4), and Heb. (1:5) quotes Ps. 2:7. Unambiguous divine status was accorded to Jesus by the Council of Nicaea (325 BCE).

Dictionary of the Bible.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Son of God — • Includes uses from the Old and New Testaments Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Son of God     Son of God     † …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Son of God — is a phrase found in the Hebrew Bible, various other Jewish texts and the New Testament. In the holy Hebrew scriptures, according to Jewish religious tradition, it is related to many diverse subjects, as to angels, humans and even all mankind.… …   Wikipedia

  • Son of God — n the Son of God used by Christians to mean Jesus Christ …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Son of God — or Son of Man Christian Theol. name for Jesus Christ …   English World dictionary

  • Son of God — Son′ of God′ n. rel Jesus Christ, esp. as the Messiah • Etymology: bef. 950 …   From formal English to slang

  • Son of God —    The plural, sons of God, is used (Gen. 6:2, 4) to denote the pious descendants of Seth. In Job 1:6; 38:7 this name is applied to the angels. Hosea uses the phrase (1:10) to designate the gracious relation in which men stand to God.    In the… …   Easton's Bible Dictionary

  • son of god — Etymology: Middle English sone of God 1. often capitalized S & capitalized G : a superhuman or divine being; specifically : an angel 2. capitalized S&G : God s Messiah often used as a messianic title Jesus Christ, the Son of God 3 …   Useful english dictionary

  • Son of God, the — a name that Christians use for referring to Jesus Christ …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Son of God — Synonyms and related words: Christ, Christ Jesus, Emmanuel, God the Son, God man, Immanuel, Jesu, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, King of Glory, King of Heaven, King of Kings, Lamb of God, Lord Jesus, Lord of Lords, Lord our Righteousness …   Moby Thesaurus

  • SON OF GOD —    the title given to JESUS in the NEW TESTAMENT which in some passages clearly implies a special relationship between Jesus and GOD. In CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY it came to represent the deity of CHRIST in contrast to His humanity expressed by the… …   Concise dictionary of Religion

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”