Many have suggested that Christian belief in the divinity and worship of Jesus as God was a late development, and that Jesus' early followers did not regard him as being equal with God.  So was Jesus merely regarded as an "elevated" being? Was high Christology at odds with the Jewish monotheism of the first century?
New Testament scholar Richard Bauckham argues against these views.  His book "Jesus and the God of Israel" claims that the worship of Jesus as God was both very Jewish and very early.  Agnostic scholar James Crossley contests Richard's claims.
Click here for the book "Jesus and the God of Israel" (Paternoster)
For Richard Bauckham visit http://www.ridley.cam.ac.uk/people/rbauckham.html
For James Crossley see http://shef.ac.uk/bibs/staff/jgc.html
Listen to more Christian/non-Christian debates at www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or via podcast or itunes
If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy:
Unbelievable? 29 Aug 2009 - Richard Bauckham on the Gospels - pt 1: Richard Bauckham and James Crossley
Unbelievable? 24 Jan 2009 - How did Christianity begin?" Pt 2 - James Crossley & Michael Bird
Join the discussion at the Premier Community

Released on 5 Jun 2014