What do Christians mean when they call Jesus "son of God"? In this study of the phrase "son of God" as applied to Jesus of Nazareth, Christopher Bryan examines the testimony of various New Testament witnesses who used this expression to speak of him, and asks where they got it, what they meant by it, and how it might have been understood.In Bryan's view, any attempt to address these questions stands self-condemned if it does not point to both the words and works of Jesus himself in the memory of early Christians, and the Torah of Israel as then understood, centering on Israel's Scriptures. Of course Paul and his fellow believers did not proclaim Jesus in a vacuum. They proclaimed Jesus in the Roman Empire during the decades following the death of Augustus. With regard to the meaning of the phrase "son of God," what becomes clear, Bryan argues, is that whereas "Lord" (another expression frequently used in the New Testament for Jesus of Nazareth) reflects believers' sense of Jesus' relationship to them, "son of God" reflects their sense of his relationship to God. It is a title that reflects their consciousness of Jesus' holiness-that is, his "set-apartness," his consecration, and even his divinity.Readers of Son of God will gain a well-rounded understanding of classic and recent research in Christology and the New Testament, as well as an in-depth, historically situated view of the evidence that paints a clearer picture of what New Testament witnesses meant when they called Jesus "son of God."

AcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsProloguePart I: The SceneChapter 1: GalileeChapter 2: Israel's ScripturesChapter 3: Sons of God in the Scriptures of IsraelChapter 4: The Graeco-Roman WorldChapter 5: Sons of God in the Graeco-Roman WorldPart II: The WitnessesChapter 6: Paul and the Son of GodChapter 7: Colossians, Ephesians, and the Son of GodChapter 8: The Synoptics and the Son of God: Baptism and TestingChapter 9: The Synoptics and the Son of God: Confession and TransfigurationChapter 10: The Synoptics and the Son of God: the Prayers of JesusChapter 11: The Synoptics and the Son of God: Jesus' teaching in JerusalemChapter 12: The Synoptics and the Son of God: Passion, Crucifixion and ResurrectionChapter 13: Hebrews and the Son of GodChapter 14: The Fourth Evangelist and the Son of GodPart III: Largely Unscientific PostscriptsChapter 15: I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to meChapter 16: Why have they been numbered among the sons of God? And why is their lot among the saints?Select Bibliography