Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ

by Robert Bowman, J. Ed Komoszewski, Darrell L. Bock (Foreword)

The central theological distinctive of Christianity--that Jesus is God incarnate--has repeatedly come under fire from adherents to other religions and scholars who interpret Jesus as a prophet, angel, or guru. Putting Jesus in His Place is designed to introduce Christians to the wealth of biblical teaching on the deity of Christ. Using evidence from the New Testament, this book helps readers appreciate the significance of Christ's deity in a personal relationship with Him, and gives them the confidence to share the truth about Jesus with others. The book is divided into five sections, each corresponding to an aspect of the New Testament's revelation of Jesus as God, and using an acronym based on the letters in the word
Putting Jesus in His Place engages objections to the divine identity of Jesus Christ from Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Muslims, Unitarians, and other religious perspectives. Its emphasis throughout, however, is on the positive case for the deity of Christ. The book introduces the reader to cutting-edge scholarship on New Testament Christology and makes the information accessible and usable for those who are not biblical scholars or theologians. Endorsed by an impressive lineup of leading specialists in the field including Martin Hengel, Richard Bauckham, I. Howard Marshall, Craig A. Evans, Daniel B. Wallace, Murray J. Harris, and Larry Hurtado, Putting Jesus in His Place is an indispensable introduction and reference on the New Testament teaching about the identity of Jesus Christ.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Christianity, Religion, Nonfiction, Biblical Studies, History

392 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 31, 2007

Reviews

[Emily]

I love this book. It's the only one that I've ever marked up with underlines. And, it's so filled with information that it's the only book (besides the Bible) that I've read more than once and happily had the experience of discovering what is explained next. I highly recommend it! Whether you've been a Christian for a long time or have absolutely no idea what's going on with Christians, it will help you to understand where they're coming from.

[Chad]

If you're looking for one book that makes a comprehensive biblical case for the full deity of Christ, this is the book I would recommend.

Putting Jesus in His Place is chock-full of biblical evidence demonstrating that Jesus is not merely an exalted intermediary figure who is accorded some measure of divinity. He is not an adopted Son of God. He is not a creature who was elevated to divine status after his resurrection. From all eternity, the Son is fully divine with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

The authors organize this massive amount of biblical evidence around the helpful acronym H.A.N.D.S. H stands for honors: Jesus receives the honors that belong to God. A stands for attributes: Jesus possesses attributes that belong to God. N stands for names: Jesus is identified by names and titles that belong to God. D stands for deeds: Jesus does what God alone does. And S stands for seat: Jesus occupies the divine throne with the Father.

This framework is simple enough to remember but comprehensive enough to gather together an impressive amount of biblical evidence. And that is one of the book's greatest strengths. The authors don't build the deity of Christ on a handful of isolated proof texts. They demonstrate how thoroughly the identity of Jesus as God permeates the New Testament. Again and again, Jesus is included within the honors, attributes, names, deeds, and throne that belong to the God of Israel.

This makes the book valuable not only for apologetics but also for strengthening our own confession of Christ. It deepens our understanding of why Christians confess that Jesus is truly God, while equipping us to make that confession boldly, clearly, and humbly before the world.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough as we continue to repeat the confession of Thomas to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”

[Shane Walters]

An easy read that offers depth of insight. A great book to hand a maturing Christian who is looking for further study without the sophisticated theological terms.

[Josiah Lloyd]

Great for any believer to read and get a good understanding of the divinity of Jesus. Makes you see how it's all over the Bible and to view Jesus higher as He deserves to be.

How the book ends...
"Here's a sobering thought. This life is short. Soon we will meet Jesus face to face. And we promise you this: none of us will extend a hand to Him and tell Him it's finally nice to put a face with a name! We'll fall at His feet and worship. The time to start doing that is now."

The time to start doing that is NOW

[Evan Minton]

Robert Bowman Jr's and J. Ed. Komozewski's "Putting Jesus In His Place" has been a fantastic read! While it is very scholarly in the sense that it is heavily sourced (it cites the work of numerous other biblical scholars, Biblical passage references, goes into the Greek language), it's not the dry treatise I expected it to be.

The authors presuppose the inspiration and reliability of the biblical text in making their arguments, but I think that's because this book is aimed at those who share that presupposition (e.g Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons). In other words, it's a scholarly work arguing that the deity of Christ is a doctrine found in scripture.

Now, there are some parts in which they mention the reliability of the text, such as the early dating of the Pauline epistles, and the use of extra biblical sources to show that belief in Christ's deity was not something that developed overtime, but was right there since the very beginning of Christianity's movement.

Overall, I find the arguments powerful and persuasive. Of course, one may retort that this is because I already believed Jesus is God. However, I would say that even if I wasn't, I probably would be persuaded even after the second part of the book ((The book is divided up into 5 parts, each representing a letter of the acronym H.A.N.D.S to help people better remember and organize the biblical evidence for Christ's deity)).

"Putting Jesus In His Place: The Case For The Deity Of Christ" is such a great book on the subject of the deity of Christ that if I were a theology professor, this would be required reading. Anyone who is interested in learning how to defend the doctrine that Jesus is God should have this in their library.

[G]

An excellent book that shows how the gospels and epistles not to mention the hebrew text is filled with references to the exalted Messiah and how Jesus called and established himself as God Incarnate. The authors give a very helpful way to establish and defend the deity of Christ: Jesus received or declared the following of God was given to him: H.A.N.D.S. (Honors, Attributes, Names, Deeds, Seat). The book is written in a very easy-to-read style and is enjoyable. Chapter titles are fun! Highly recommended!

[Andy]

This is a very good treatment of the Deity of Christ. Rather than a typical assessment of the standard passages, the author uses 5 lines of Biblical data. He uses the acronym HANDS. Christ receives the Honor due to God; Christ has the Attributes of God; He has the Names of God; does the Deeds of God; and is Seated on God's throne. Bowman does a fine job of balancing between a scholarly approach and a popular one.

[Cole Gillespie]

Like a sleeper 3-4 stars I’d say. I think it was good, nothing too crazy, if I was really questioning the deity of Christ it would prolly be good info, but I liked his “model” of HANDS.

Christ shares HANDS with God the Father :
H - hands
A - attributes
N - name
D - deeds
S - seat

[Conrad]

An excellent and detailed dissertation on the person and work of Christ written in a way that is accessible and understandable to the lay person.

[Adam Bloch]

I recommend this book for any Christian (or Christian-curious person) that questions whether or not the Bible actually teaches that Jesus is God. It does get repetitive, but you can skip to the concluding chapter for a summary.

[Josue]

This is a solid book to read! Not only is it scholarly, but it is also easy to read.

The big strength of this book is its focus on implicit indications of the deity of Christ throughout the whole New Testament. Thus, rather than focusing on a few verses that are used to both defend and deny the deity of Christ (which is a great endeavor), the authors look to the whole New Testament, where we learn that Jesus shares,

1. The Honors that are due to God
2. The Attributes of God
3. The Names of God
4. The Deeds that God does
5. The Seat of God's throne

In the words of the authors, "Any one of these five lines of evidence would be good support for belief in the deity of Christ. All five lines of evidence, considered together, prove beyond reasonable doubt that Jesus Christ is God" (Kindle Locations 3120-3121).

Amen!

[Mark]

This book is worth every cent (although I got it for free during its free teaser period!) The authors concisely and effectively argue from multiple angles the indisputable case for the deity of Christ. The table in the appendix with with every scriptural reference for Jesus' divinity is quite "handy" (an inside pun if you read the book). This book is a must have for those reaching out to groups like Muslims, Jehovahs Witnesses, or others who deny that the bible teaches Jesus was/is God. I have gained a whole new perspective on Jesus and how worthy of worship he is. love the closing: "Here's a sobering thought. This life is short. Soon we will meet Jesus face to face. And we promise you this: none of us will extend a hand to him and tell him it's finally nice to put a face with the name! We'll fall at his feet and worship. The time to start doing that is now."

[Mike Gorski]

This book strike's an amazing balance between good scholarship and general readability. A rare gem for a confused time. Church members face an increasing amount of ignorant opposition from people who claim that not only is Jesus not God, but the Bible and the early church didn't teach that until after Constantine. Putting Jesus In His Place reveals the plethora of means by which it can be clearly seen that the NT, even Jesus himself, exalt the person of Jesus of Nazareth as being nothing less than God himself.

[Mark Nenadov]

An excellent treatment of the doctrine of the deity of Christ. It is thorough and yet not overly technical. I found it devotionally profitable. The basic layout is represented by the acronym HANDS (honour, attributes, names, deeds, and seat).

[Caleb Watson]

A masterful defense of perhaps THE central Christian doctrine, in a very readable presentation. As far as I can tell, this book covers every relevant biblical text, with great care, and precision. I don’t think that it is hyperbole to say that every Christian should read this book.

[Matthew]

One of the best books I've read dealing with the deity of Christ. Very readable and engaging.

[Kristy]

I love this book! Such an easy read and one of my favorites! Magnifies Jesus and presents Him as He is and should be.

[Justin Effler]

One of the best, if not, the very best book on the deity of Christ. Highly detailed exegetical work on the attributes of God, showing how Jesus Christ shares in the divine nature.

[Kolter Sands]

It is a beautifully written text arguing for the Deity of Christ. It states what should be and is common sense about the claims of the Gospels, Epistles, Prophets, Writings, and Old Testament Histories concerning the Messiah as being and person, Divine and Man.

It is a good beginner theological text, considering its vocabulary is not intensively complex like other theological texts. Just because a theological text's vocabulary may be high, does not mean it is better or worse than one with a lower vocabulary.

If one would like to read an older and higher vocabulary work on the subject, I recommend Chemnitz's The Two Natures in Christ written in 1578.

Chemnitz's Works: The Two Natures in Christ

It is much richer theologically in its language and argumentation, it goes through Church History, Biblical Linguistics, and Scriptural Evidence. It has a thorough argumentation for the reality that Christ is both divine and human based on the Scriptures, and a logical understanding of how Christ's natures work in one person.

[Beejai Richardson]

The idea of Jesus being God was a fourth-century invention imposed on the church and not something early Christians believed or what the Bible taught.

This is a wild and crazy idea that some 19th-century so called theologians came up with. It has been thoroughly debunked over and over again, but many who get their theology from Tiktok, the Watchtower, or from their local Imam still believe such nonsense. So books like Putting Jesus in His Place is still necessary. Bowman and Komoszewski tear this misconception to shreds, mostly through using the HANDS acronym:

H - Honors - Jesus receives honors that belong to God alone.
A - Attributes - Jesus shares the attributes of God.
N - Names - Jesus shares the names of God.
D - Deeds - Jesus does things that God alone can do.
S - Seat - Jesus shares the seat of God's throne.

I have heard, and even used, the HANDS acronym before, but I never realized until reading this book that it actually was invented for this book. I think part of the reason that it has taken off so well is because B&K perform the incredibly difficult task of being readable for the comman Joe on the street but technical enough for the graduate classroom. Kudos.

[Andrew Smith]

My reading pace became glacial after Oliver was born so this took much longer than it should. The title is my least favorite thing about the book but it was certainly an interesting systematic examination of the divinity of Christ using the acronym HANDS (Jesus shares in the same Honors, Attributes, Names, Deeds, and Seat as the Father).

Cool quote to end the book: “Here’s a sobering thought. This life is short. Soon we will meet Jesus face to face. And we promise you this: none of us will extend a hand to him and tell him it’s finally nice to put a face to the name! We’ll fall at his feet and worship. The time to start doing that is now.”

[Tom]

Excellent book, not great formatting

This is such a good book! I had heard the “HANDS” acronym but haven’t seen it presented with such detail. I also appreciate how well the authors present interact with opposing views. Where it could be better is with formatting. Specifically, it would be nice if the footnote links were live. Ideally, they should open a window on the page, showing the footnote. Otherwise, going to the footnote would be acceptable.

[Kevin Megill]

An excellent book on the deity of Christ. Rather than just quoting apologetical proof-texts, it manages to focus on the overall heart of the doctrine and the way it's embedded into the gospel. It is both inspiring and helpful apologetically, which is quite a trick. I'd definitely recommend it. But I probably don't need to re-read it.

[Juan Nalle]

I really enjoyed this book.
It helped me see more clearly how Scripture consistently points to the full deity of Christ. The arguments are well organized, biblically grounded, and easy to follow. Rather than offering something new, the book strengthened my confidence in what the Bible teaches about Jesus.
A valuable resource for anyone who wants to study Christology more deeply.

[Keith Walker]

This is the absolute BEST book I've ever read on the deity of Christ. Bowman does a masterful job of using atypical verses to prove Christ's deity. Be sure to read with a bible handy and with pen and paper ready. You WILL want to take notes.

[Cameron Cloud]

Highlights the five threads of Scriptural evidence for the deity of Christ. The authors demonstrate that this truth is not merely a proof-texted afterthought imposed on the Church centuries later, but a fundamental concept of the entire New Testament. Reaffirming through elements familiar and new.

[Gregory Rothbard]

I think that this book will be a resource and an aid to my Christian Development.

[Austen Owens]

Many say Jesus was just a great 1st century Rabbi who taught love, made claims, and died. Others may ask where did Jesus say he was God? Robert Bowan Jr. does an excellent job of describing Jesus' divine claims and what they meant to his first century audience. His claims may not be obvious at first glance, but when you understand context, it is very clear! His H.A.N.D.S. teaching is such a good way to memorize his points. Overall, this is a fantastic read and has helped me in many conversations.

[Brenna]

4.5 stars

[Troy]

Quite possibly one of the most digestible and informative books on the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ I have ever read. I cannot recommend it enough.