Θεοί at war: The deity of Christ and the fate of the empire

Most interpreters confine the development of divine Christology in the writings of the New Testament within the parameters set by the monotheistic Judaism of the second temple period. In this way the central hero of the work, “our great god and savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13), is recognized as none other than the one and only God, Yahweh, the maker of the heavens and of the earth and of the sea. Alongside the Father and the Spirit, therefore, the man Jesus Christ is included in the identity of the one true God—the singular Deity being here conceived of as trinity of persons sharing one divine nature. Outside of this Trinitarian construct, so it is claimed, lies only polytheism (or modalism).

This preoccupation with demonstrating that the Christ of the New Testament is the Lord Yahweh of the Old Testament thus crudely resembles the λόγος formulations underway in the first few centuries among the Neo-Platonic Christian elite. Hellenized theologians like Eusebius of Caesarea, Justin Martyr, and the crafter of the Johannine prologue (i.e. John 1:1-18) held Christ to be God’s powerful Word, the agent of creation and redemption, the firstborn emanation begotten of the one God, the Father Almighty. Yet, in contrast with more contemporary Christological endeavors, this divine Word was thought to be “another god,” a “unique θεός” distinct from and subject to the creator of all things (John 1:18). Such “polytheistic” theories were not thought to infringe upon the monotheism of Jewish tradition because there remained but one supreme demiurge, the Father of Christ.¹ As the image of the most high God, Christ’s deity derived from the Father, to whom all glory and honor was ultimately directed.

Besides the developments possible in the mingling of early Christianity and Neo-Platonism, the conflict that ensued between the cult of Christ and the cult of the Roman emperor offers another avenue toward explaining the emergence of divine Christology. Many of the pagan emperors of Rome, like various oriental kings before them, enjoyed a reputation of deity throughout the realm, known to their subjects by the various titles also applied to Jesus of Nazareth by Christians. Like the many Jews who opposed such self-aggrandizement in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, the devotees of the cult of Christ rejected the imperial propaganda that identified Caesar as the κύριος, δεσπότης, and σωτήρ of the world, thus refusing to honor him as such with sacrifice, sometimes at great personal cost. Moreover, in one classic piece of emperor-promotion—the Priene Calendar Inscription,² a notice from the coast of Asia Minor carved around the time of Christ’s birth—the birthday of the “god” (θεός) and “savior” (σωτήρ) Caesar Augustus is memorialized. The advent of this emperor Augustus “began the good tidings for the world” (ἦρξεν δὲ τῶι κὀσμωι… εὐαγγελίων) (cf. Mark 1:1).

In this way it was two divine men, two sons of God,³ not merely one, who disseminated God’s gospel of peace and order throughout the known world in the 1st century. For the Roman, the Golden Age had been announced at the birth of Octavian and had been obtained at the creation of his empire. For the Christian, the Golden Age had been announced by various prophets (e.g. Isaiah, John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, John the Seer) and by various signs (e.g. Christ’s divine paternity and resurrection from the dead, the powerful deeds performed by the apostles, the day of vengeance upon Jerusalem in AD 70) and was soon to be obtained at the parousia of the Lord Jesus from Heaven. The world now in submission to the divine Caesar and his Olympian patrons (i.e. Jupiter & Apollo) would eventually come under the rule of the divine Christ and his head, the God of Israel.

This rivalry between early Christianity and the imperial cult for theo-political dominance over the Mediterranean had the potential to help generate the divine Christology found in a few New Testament texts. The relation between Titus 2:11-14 and the Priene Calendar Inscription is particularly striking. In both texts the “appearance” (ἐπιφάνεια) of a “god” and “savior” results in salvation for all people. Yet whereas the Roman propaganda inaugurates the new and glorious age at the birth of Caesar Augustus, the Christian propaganda looks forward to the future coming of Christ as the day of the world’s redemption. Luke’s nativity narrative, particularly its songs in praise of the newborn Davidic king, however, does offer a sweeping counterpoint to imperial claims regarding the most excellent origins of Augustus. As with the birth of Octavian, the birth of Christ in Luke ensures glory and security for Israel, revelation of salvation to the nations, and peace and happiness for those whom God favors.⁴

Similar assumptions may be at work with the divine Christology displayed elsewhere in the New Testament.

• In 2 Peter 1:1-2 Christ is “our god and savior” who will come to judge and rule the world but is distinct from “God” (ὁ θεός).
• Thomas’ confession of faith in the resurrected Christ as “my lord and my god” echoes the titles given to Emperor Domitian—”our god and our lord” (deus nostrum et dominus nostrum) (cf. Suetonius, Life of Domitian 13.2).
• Though originally an expression of Ancient Near Eastern belief in the deity of the king as God’s empowered representative, Psalm 45:6-7 eventually came into contact with the worship of Caesar as a god. The text’s reception in Hebrews 1:8-9 makes Christ, not Augustus, a θεός who is God’s anointed king.

Granted then that early Christians applied the title θεός to Christ within the context of and in conflict with the worship of the pagan emperor as θεός (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:4)—on which grounds Christians were persecuted and ostracized by imperial authorities—a Christological model rather different from those traditionally proposed emerges. In the New Testament the term θεός as applied to Jesus does not identify him as Yahweh, the one God of Israel, to whom he is subject, nor does it ascribe to him God’s divine nature as the Word—these being distinct Christological strands. Rather, like Caesar, Jesus is designated θεός because has been granted authority to rule the οἰκουμένη on behalf of the heavenly powers that be. He possesses the full dominion of God the Father⁵ to bend the nations to his will, to install his government over the tribes of the earth. It is for this reason that he extracts from the nations worship, prayer, and sacrifice—to secure his rule at the behest of God. Inasmuch as Christ is Lord and Son then, he is also θεός, a god among men.

As the threat of pagan god-emperors dissipated in the centuries that followed, Israel’s gospel of God’s rule in (relative) peace, righteousness, and prosperity finally triumphant over the idolatrous empire, Christians devised other ways of explaining Christ’s identity as θεός.

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1—A thesis argued by Alexander Smarius in Another God in the Gospel of John? A Linguistic Analysis of John 1:1 and 1:18.

2—The relevant portion translated as follows:

Since Providence, which has ordered all things and is deeply interested in our life, has set in most perfect order by giving us Augustus, whom she filled with virtue that he might benefit humankind, sending him as a savior, both for us and for our descendants, that he might end war and arrange all things, and since he, Caesar, by his appearance (excelled even our anticipations), surpassing all previous benefactors, and not even leaving to posterity any hope of surpassing what he has done, and since the birthday of the god Augustus was the beginning of the good tidings for the world that came by reason of him.

3—Octavian (i.e. Augustus Caesar) was known during his lifetime as divi Iulii filius, the [adopted] “son of the deified Julius [Caesar]” who himself had ascended to Heaven upon his death. In later propaganda Octavian became the son of the god Apollo and his human mother, a story mentioned by Suetonius in The Lives of the Caesars 94.4 (cf. Crossan, God and Empire 105-106).

4—Paul’s expectations regarding the impending parousia align with Luke 1-2.

Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the ancestors and that the nations might glorify God for his mercy… [as] Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the nations; in him the nations shall hope”… in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, [declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead]… so that all the nations might come to the obedience that comes from faith.

Romans 15:7-12, 16:25-27, cf. 1:4

Compare these Christian texts with the Roman inscription found at Halicarnassus that highlights the concrete purposes of Caesar’s installation as Lord.

Since the eternal and deathless nature of the universe has perfected its immense benefits to mankind in granting us as a supreme benefit, for our happiness and welfare, Caesar Augustus, Father of his own Fatherland, divine Rome, Zeus Paternal, and Savior of the whole human race, in whom Providence has not only fulfilled but even surpassed the prayers of all men: Land and sea are at peace, cities flourish under the reign of law, in mutual harmony and prosperity; each is at the very acme of fortune and abounding in wealth; all mankind is filled with glad hopes for the future, and with contentment over the present.

5—The name of the Roman high god Jupiter derives from the proto-Italic words for “sky” (djous) and “father” (pater).