Monotheism & Christology

Last Updated: May 7, 2013

Below you will find links to a number of online resources that will aid you in the study of monotheism and Christology in Second Temple Judaism.  There are also a few articles that deal with monotheism in pre-exilic Judaism. Please report any broken links.

Written Resources

• Abrams, Daniel. “The Boundaries of Divine Ontology: The Inclusion of Metatron in the Godhead.” Harvard Theological Review 87/3 (1994): 291-321.
• Bauckham, Richard. “Paul’s Christology of Divine Identity.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the SBL. November 25, 2002.
• Bokovoy, David. “‘Ye Really Are Gods’: A Response to Michael Heiser concerning the LDS Use of Psalm 82 and the Gospel of John” FARMS Review (2007): 267-313.
• Boyarin, Daniel. “The Gospel of the Memra: Jewish Binitarianism and the Prologue to John.” Harvard Theological Review 94/3 (2001): 243-84.
• Bucur, Bogdan G. “‘Early Christian Binitarianism’: From Religious Phenomenon to Polemical Insult to Scholarly Concept.” Modern Theology 27 (2011): 102-120.
• Fredriksen, Paula. “Gods and the One God.” Bible Review (2003): 12, 49.
• Fredriksen, Paula. “Mandatory Retirement: Ideas in the Study of Christian Origins Whose Time Has Come to Go.” Studies in Religion 35/2 (2006): 231-46.
• Hartley, Donald E. “2 Corinthians 4:4: A Case for Yahweh as the ‘God of this Age’.” Paper presented at the 57th Annual Meeting of the ETS. November 16-18, 2005.
• Hayman, Peter. “Monotheism:  A Misused Word in Jewish Studies?.” Journal of Jewish Studies 42/1 (1991): 1-15.
• Heiser, Michael S. “Are Yahweh and El Distinct Deities in Deut 32:8-9 and Psalm 82?.” Hiphil 3 (2006).
• Heiser, Michael S. “Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God.” Bibliotheca Sacra 158/629 (2001): 52-74.
• Heiser, Michael S. “The Divine Council in Late Canonical and Non-Canonical Second Temple Jewish Literature.” Ph.D. diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2004.
• Heiser, Michael S. “Divine Plurality in the Dead Sea Scrolls.” Paper presented at the Regional Meeting of the SBL. May 13, 2011.
• Heiser, Michael S. “Does Deuteronomy 32:17 Assume or Deny the Reality of Other Gods?.” Bible Translator 59/3 (2008): 137-145.
• Heiser, Michael S. “Does Divine Plurality in the Hebrew Bible Demonstrate an Evolution from Polytheism to Monotheism in Israelite Religion?.” Journal for the Evangelical Study of the Old Testament 1/1 (2012): 1-23.
• Heiser, Michael S. “Israel’s Divine Council, Mormonism, and Evangelicalism: Clarifying the Issues and Directions for Future Study” FARMS Review 19/1 (2007): 315-23.
• Heiser, Michael S.”Monotheism, Polytheism, Monolatry, or Henotheism? Toward an Honest (and Orthodox) Assessment of Divine Plurality in the Hebrew Bible.”
• Heiser, Michael S. “Jesus’ Quotation of Psalm 82:6 in John 10:34: A Different View of John‘s Theological Strategy.” Paper presented at the Regional Meeting of the SBL. May 13, 2011.
• Heiser, Michael S. “Should the Plural Elohim of Psalm 82 Be Understood as Men or Divine Beings?.”
• Heiser, Michael S. “What Is / Are (an) Elohim?.”
• Heiser, Michael S.”You’ve Seen One Elohim, You’ve Seen Them All? A Critique of Mormonism’s Use of Psalm 82.” FARMS Review 19/1 (2007): 221-66.
• Hurtado, Larry W. “First Century Jewish Monotheism .” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 71 (1998): 3-26.
• Hurtado, Larry W. “Jesus-Devotion: Clarifying Some Points.” (Larry Hurtado’s Blog, 30 Nov. 2010)
• Hurtado, Larry W. “McGrath Response.” (Larry Hurtado’s Blog, 17 Nov. 2010)
• Hurtado, Larry W. “McGrath Conversation on Jesus-Devotion.” (Larry Hurtado’s Blog, 29 Nov. 2010)
• Hurtado, Larry W. “More McGrath Conversation.” (Larry Hurtado’s Blog, 24 Nov. 2010)
• Hurtado, Larry W. “New Testament Christology: A Critique of Bousset’s Influence.” Theological Studies 40 (1979): 306-17.
• Hurtado, Larry W. “Questions about ‘Monotheism’.” (Larry Hurtado’s Blog, 4 May 2011)
• Hurtado, Larry W. Review of James D. G. Dunn, Did the First Christians Worship Jesus?: The New Testament Evidence.
• Hurtado, Larry W. Review of James F. McGrath, The Only True God: Early Christian Monotheism in its Jewish Context.
• Hurtado, Larry W. “What Do We Mean By ‘First Century Jewish Monotheism’?.” Pages 348-68 in Society of Biblical Literature 1993 Seminar Papers. Edited by Eugene H. Lovering. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993.
• Hurtado, Larry W. “Worship in Ancient Religion.” (Larry Hurtado’s Blog, 10 May 2011)
• International Conference on the Historical Origins of the Worship of Jesus (1998) — Paper abstracts
• MacDonald, Nathan. ”One God or One Lord: Deuteronomy and the Meaning of ‘Monotheism’.” Ph.D. diss., Durham University, 2001.
• McClellan, Daniel O. “Monotheism—Still a Misused Word in Jewish Studies?.”
• McClellan, Daniel O. “What is Deity in LXX Deuteronomy?.”
• McGrath, James F. “Are Christians Monotheists? The Answer of St. John’s Gospel.”
• McGrath, James F. “Continuing Conversation with Larry Hurtado.” (Exploring Our Matrix 28 Nov. 2010)
• McGrath, James F. “Continuing Conversation with Larry Hurtado on Monotheism, Christology, and Worship.” (Exploring Our Matrix, 19 Nov. 2010)
• McGrath, James F. “Monotheism and Worship in the Book of Revelation.” Pages 71-80 in the Only True God: Early Christian Monotheism in Its Jewish Context. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2009.
• McGrath, James F. “Responding to Larry Hurtado’s Review.” (Exploring Our Matrix, 16 Nov. 2010)
• McGrath, James F. “Response to Nick Norelli’s Review of The Only True God.” (Exploring Our Matrix, 6 Jan. 2011)
• McGrath, James and Jerry Truex. “‘Two Powers’ and Early Jewish and Christian Monotheism.” Journal of Biblical Studies 4/1 (2004): 43-71.
• Norelli, Nick. Review of Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the God of Israel: God Crucified and Other Studies on the New Testament’s Christology of Divine Identity.
• Norelli, Nick. Review of James D. G. Dunn, Did the First Christians Worship Jesus?: The New Testament Evidence.
• Norelli, Nick. Review of James F. McGrath, The Only True God: Early Christian Monotheism in Its Jewish Context.
• Orlov, Andrei A. “Metatron as the Deity: Lesser YHWH.” Pages 136-43 in The Enoch-Metatron Tradition. Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 107. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005.
• Ostler, Blake. “Monotheism and the Hierarchy of Divine Beings in Second Temple Judaism.” Pages 83-124 in Exploring Mormon Thought, Vol. 3: Of God and Gods. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2008.
• Peri, Chiara. “The Construction of Biblical Monotheism: an Unfinished Task.” Paper presented at International Meeting of the SBL. July 19-22, 2002.
• Rainbow, Paul. “Jewish Monotheism as a Matrix for New Testament Christology: A Review Article.” Novum Testamentum 33/1 (1991): 78-91.
• Rainbow, Paul. “Monotheism and Christology in 1 Corinthians 8.4-6.” Ph.D. diss., University of Oxford, 1987.
• Sumner, Paul. “Visions of the Heavenly Council in the Hebrew Bible.” Paper presented at the Regional Meeting of the SBL. April 7, 2002. Revised and expanded September 25, 2006.
• Wenthe, Dean O. “The Rich Monotheism of Isaiah as Christological Resource.” Concordia Theological Quarterly 71/1 (2007): 57-70.
• Wright, N. Thomas. “Jesus and the Identity of God.” Ex Auditu 14 (1998): 42-56.
• Wright, N. T. “Paul and Jesus.” Pages 63-75  in What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity?. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997.

Websites of Interest

• Bogdan Bucur’s homepage features many of the articles, book chapters, and book reviews he’s written.  Of particular interest to this topic are the articles on angelomorphic pneumatology and christology.
• Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism.  There are a number of articles of interest to those interested in this subject, especially those listed under theme 22: Divine Mediators Figures: Jewish and Christian Traditions.
• The Edinburgh Research Archive has a number of articles and books chapters (both published and pre-publication) from Larry Hurtado on this very subject.
• Michael S. Heiser also has a number of other articles related to the issue at The Divine Council.