About the Author
D.A. Carson (PhD, Cambridge University) is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and co-founder (with Tim Keller) and president of The Gospel Coalition.
Table of Contents:
Preface
1 “Son of God” as a Christological Title
2 “Son of God” in Selected Passages
3 “Jesus the Son of God” in Christian and Muslim Contexts
General Index
Scripture Index
Book Summary
“I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in his only Son Jesus, our Lord.” What does a Christian mean when he makes this declaration? Is it merely Christian tradition required for church membership? Or, do the words form precise theological concepts that express a more weighty religious significance? How is it possible for God, a spirit, to have a son? Is there exclusivity in the “father-son” imagery which prevents the use of different “less offensive” cultural mediums? In the first chapter of his short manuscript D.A. Carson surveys the landscape of contemporary works that enter into usage of sonship. Then, he evaluates the overall treatment in Scripture paying special attention to the continuum between literal and figurative connotation. The second chapter unpacks two exegetically significant texts moving towards a better theological framework of “Son of God.” Finally, chapter three enters into the current translational conversation regarding the phrase “Son of God” with the summaries and conclusions of his analysis. This will be in specific reference to the Muslim controversies and translational methodology of several premiere translation organizations.
Chapter 1
“Son of God” as a Christological Title
Survey of Contemporary Use of “Son of God”
Contemporary Western Christianity has largely ignored the doctrine of sonship in favor of other “more central” aspects of Jesus’ person and ministry. However, even those who have contributed to this neglected doctrine have largely emphasized a narrow portion of its themes. Theological works have brought to the foreground sonship in as far as it has been advantageous towards systematics under the Trinitarian doctrine. Discussions do include biblical texts but those are severely limited. The field of interest restricts texts to those that directly speak to the eternality, equality and uniqueness of the Son in relationship to the Father and the Holy Spirit. In addition, some of those very texts do not in themselves directly speak to the concept of sonship. That is to say the text presupposes the doctrine of sonship but does not directly address it. These works, however, are unhelpful to those readers who desire an extensive survey of “Son language” in the Scriptures.
A second set of books has focused upon the parallels of the language of sonship in various social and political settings of the first century. These have been predominately ….
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