Status Updates From Jesus Monotheism

Totally misreads Bauckham and wrongly charges him with docetism. I am not impressed.

Add to this the fact that the author relies heavily on gematria, and I have a deepening skepticism that anything of lasting value will come from this book. So far, the author is on the side of Bauckham, Hurtado, and Wright, endorsing the “early high Christology” thesis that they have advanced.

It does not inspire confidence when the author makes elementary mistakes of Latin and Greek: “in the Greek of 1 Thess 3:11 the verb “direct” (kateuthynai) is a singular” (no, it is an infinitive, which does not have number) and ““there is the practice of writing the name of Jesus as a nomina sacra” (sic; nomen sacrum would be the singular).

Arguments that SOME second-Temple Judaisms would allow incorporation of Greco-Roman treatments of "divine humans" in their cultivation practice, though those individuals had to be exemplary Israelites. Did ask great questions about the implications of this for Deuteronomistic theology, as well.

This chapter argued that "The Similitudes of Enoch" was a pre-Christian text (along with other Enochic and Danielic texts) evincing Son of Man messianism. Not sure how to feel about the conclusion, but asked good questions.

Most of the critiques of Hurtado's conception of the origins of Christ devotion hit squarely, and Fletcher-Louis's criticism is persuasive. But, at some points I didn't see that Fletcher-Louis's position was all that different from Hurtado's, despite his contention to the contrary.

I'm impressed by Fletcher-Louis' level of engagement with the breadth and depth of evidence in Hurtado's and Bauckham's works. His critical engagement has convincingly shown to this point that Bauckham and Hurtado have done little to show that Christ devotion included understanding on the distinction between Jesus and God, and on the pre-existence/incarnation of Jesus.

This "numerical criticism" but sounds like some illuminati mess. I'll need to read more about that before I'm convinced.