Paul's divine christology

the long version

Chris Tilling makes a fresh contribution to the debate about whether or not Paul's Christology is divine. To this end he analyses the Pauline data that details the relation between the risen Lord and Christians. With reference to contemporary debates regarding 'Jewish monotheism', he argues that the Pauline Christ-relation corresponds - as a pattern - solely to language concerning YHWH's relation to Israel in Second Temple Judaism. This is the case, Tilling maintains, even in texts such as Sirach 44-50, the Life of Adam and Eve and the Similitudes of Enoch. In dialogue both with concerns that one cannot properly speak of a Pauline "Christology, and recent studies in Paul's epistemology, Chris Tilling presents Paul's Christology as fully divine, but in a particular way: the Christ-relation is Paul's divine-Christology expressed as relationship. In light of this, he not only reengages arguments deployed by those disputing a Pauline divine-Christology, but also draws additional conclusions relating to the interface between biblical and systematic theological concerns.