James D. G. Dunn is Emeritus Lightfoot Professor of Divinity, Durham University, and is the author of numerous ground breaking works in New Testament Studies. His most recent publications include A New Perspective on Jesus: What the Quest for the Historical Jesus Missed (Baker/SPCK, 2005), Jesus Remembered (Eerdmans, 2003), The Cambridge Companion to St Paul (Cambridge University Press, 2003) and The Theology of Paul the Apostle (Eerdmans/T&T Clark, 1997). To Richard Bauckham and Larry Hurtado, partners in dialogue DID THE FIRST.. CHRISTIANS WORSHIP JESUS? The New Testament evidence JAMES D. G. DUNN (SPCK) WJK WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX PRESS WUISVILLE • KENTUCKY Copyright© James D. G. Dunn 2010 First published in Great Britain in 2010 by Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge 36 Causton Street London SW1P 4ST Published in 2010 in the United States of America by Westminster John Knox Press 100 Witherspoon Street Louisville, KY 40202 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. 10 11 12 13 14 IS 16 17 18 19-10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Anglicized Edition, copyright© 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All other Scripture quotations are the author's own translation. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-0-281-05928-7 (U.K. edition) United States Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dunn, James D. G., 1939- Did the first Christians worship Jesus? : the New Testament evidence I James D. G. Dunn. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. !52) and indexes. ISBN 978-0-664-23196-5 (alk. paper) I. Jesus Christ-Cult-History. 2. Worship in the Bible. 3. Jesus Christ-Divinity History of doctrines-Early church, ea. 30-600. 4. Bible. N.T.-Theology. I. Title. BT590.C85D86 2010 232' .8090 15-dc22 2009049234 Typeset by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong Printed in Great Britain by MPG Produced on paper from sustainable forests Contents Abbreviations vu Introduction 1 The question 1 1 The language of worship 7 1.1 To worship 8 1.2 Other vocabulary 12 1.3 Related terms 18 1.4 Doxologies 22 1.5 The language of benediction 25 1.6 Conclusion 27 2 The practice of worship 29 2.1 Prayer 30 2.2 Hymns 38 2.3 Sacred space, sacred times, sacred meals, sacred people 43 2.4 Sacrifice 52 2.5 Conclusion 57 3 Monotheism, heavenly mediators and divine agents 59 3.1 'The Lord our God is one Lord' 62 3.2 Angels 66 3.3 Spirit, Wisdom and Word 72 3.4 Exalted human beings 84 3.5 Conclusion 89 4 The Lord Jesus Christ 91 4.1 Was Jesus a monotheist? 93 4.2 'Jesus is Lord' 101 4.3 Word, Wisdom and Spirit 116 V Contents 4.4 The testimony of the Apocalypse of John 130 4.5 Jesus as god/God 132 4.6 Last Adam, mediator, heavenly intercessor 136 4. 7 How helpful is it to re-express the issues in terms of 'divine identity'? 141 4.8 Conclusion 145 Conclusion 147 The answer 14 7 Bibliography 152 Index of biblical and ancient sources 159 Index of modern authors 166 Index of subjects 167 Abbreviations ABD D. N. Freedman (ed.), Anchor Bible Dictionary (6 vols; New York: Doubleday, 1992) ALD C. T. Lewis, A Latin Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon, 1879) BDAG W. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, ET W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich (eds), 3rd edition revised by F. W. Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000) BCE Before the Christian Era, or, Before the Common Era BZNW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft CE Christian Era, or, Common Era EKK Evangelisch-katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament ET English translation FS Festschrift, volume written in honour of HNT Handbuch zum Neuen Testament HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual ICC International Critical Commentary JJS Journal of Jewish Studies JQR Jewish Quarterly Review JR Journal of Religion JS!Supp Journal for the Study of Judaism Supplement Series JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament JSNTS JSNT Supplement Series JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament JTS Journal of Theological Studies LCL Loeb Classical Library LXX Septuagint Vll Abbreviations MT Masoretic Text NIGTC New International Greek Testament Commentary NIV New International Version (1978) NJB New Jerusalem Bible (1985) NovT Novum Testamentum NRSV New Revised Standard Version (1989) NT New Testament NTS New Testament Studies OCD3 S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth (eds), The Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd edition; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2003) ODCC F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds), The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2nd edition; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983) OT Old Testament OTP J. H. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (2 vols; London: Darton, Longman &Todd, 1983, 1985) REB Revised English Bible (1989) SNTSMS Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich (eds), Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (ET; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964-76) TDOT G. J. Botterweck and H. Ringgren (eds), Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (ET; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974-2006) WBC Word Biblical Commentary WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Vlll Introduction The question The status accorded to or recognized for Jesus is the key dis tinctive and defining feature of Christianity. It is also the chief stumbling block for inter-faith dialogue between Christians and Jews, and between Christians and Muslims. Jew and Muslim simply cannot accept the divine status of Jesus as the Son of God, which Christians regard as fundamental to their faith. The Christian understanding of God as Trinity baffles them. To regard Jesus as divine, as worthy of worship as God, seems to them an obvious rejection of the oneness of God, more a form of polytheism than a form of monotheism. And truth to tell, many Christians also find the understanding of God as Trinity baffling. The confession of the Trinity in terms of 'essence' (or 'substance') makes too little sense, apart from the Greek philosophical categories that the language presupposes, for it to be very meaningful for most of those who repeat the Nicene Creed. And the classic creedal distinction between dif ferent 'persons' of the Godhead, when 'person' is understood in its everyday sense, invites the perception of God in tri theistic rather than Trinitarian terms, as three and distinct individual 'persons'.1 In view of this, it may be helpful to look back to the begin ning of the process that resulted in the formulation of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, and in doing so to clarify what lay behind the confession of Jesus as the Son of God in Trinitarian terms. The language of 'essence' /'substance' and 'person' was, of course, carefully chosen and the usage of these 1 The problem was highlighted by both K. Rahner, The Trinity (London: Burns & Oates, 1970) 48, and G. W. H. Lampe, God as Spirit (Oxford University Press, 1977) 227-8.