Did Jesus Really Think He Was God?

Crispin points out that in modern academia, it is often assumed that Christ didn’t

consider himself divine. Instead, academics consider that Christ’s divinity was

later imposed on him by the early church.

Crispin points to some weaknesses in this argument and offers some refreshing

critiques.

Included in his points are:

• The high priest is a new Adam.

• The high priest as “God’s image” is tied to the idea of the temple as a

microcosm.

• The high priest is, in a sense, “Israel.”

• Because the high priest is a representative of Israel, he is also a royal figure,

because one of the tribes of Israel is the royal line (the tribe of Judah).

• The high priest is an office, not a person.

About Dr. Fletcher-Louis:

Dr. Crispin Fletcher-Louis is a biblical scholar and teacher. He studied at Keble

College, Oxford as an undergraduate when E.P. Sanders and N.T. Wright were

University lecturers, and for his doctorate, under Chris Rowland (on angelology in

Luke’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles). He then taught in the Theology and

Religious Studies departments of King’s College, London, Durham University, and

Nottingham University. From 2004–2006 he served as Resident Theologian at St

Mary’s Bryanston Sq., a thriving church in Central London. With growing demand

for deeper theological teaching across the region, in 2006 he spearheaded the

creation of Westminster Theological Centre (WTC).

In July 2012 Crispin stepped down as Principal of WTC and is now engaged in

research, writing, and the development of new teaching material. He continues to

provide informal teaching to local churches and consultancy to businesses

interested in the optimization of material and spiritual value creation. His research

and teaching focuses on the overarching shape of the biblical story (its key

themes and theological questions). In particular, he writes about the nature of our

human identity and purpose, temple worship and spirituality, apocalyptic and

Jewish mysticism, Jesus’ identity (Christology) and the Gospel accounts of his life.

Crispin is currently engaged in a four-volume book writing project on Jesus and

the origins of the earliest beliefs about him (Jesus Monotheism). The first volume

(Jesus Monotheism. Volume 1. Christological Origins: The Emerging Consensus

and Beyond) (hard copy: Eugene, Or: Wipf & Stock; digital copy: Whymanity)

appeared in 2015.

There is a blog dedicated to the Jesus Monotheism project. For more on

Crispin’s academic work you can visit his webpage at academia.edu.

Crispin is married to Mary and has two children, Emily and Reuben.

Resources:

• http://www.whymanity.com/

• https://www.whymanity.com/about/who-we-are/

• http://jesusmonotheism.com/usd/

• https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Monotheism-Christological-Emerging-Consensus/dp/1620328895

Show Produced by: Dan Gummel