Paul
A complex Christology that balances the highest exaltation of Jesus with unwavering monotheism.
Overview
Paul's letters are the earliest surviving Christian documents, written within two decades of the crucifixion. They provide our first window into how a Jewish monotheist could place Jesus at the centre of God's saving action while maintaining that "there is one God, the Father." This creative tension runs through every major Pauline passage about Christ.
Paul's Christology is not systematic — it emerges in response to pastoral crises, community disputes, and theological challenges from rival teachers. Yet certain patterns are consistent: Jesus is Lord (kyrios), the agent through whom God created and redeems, the one who will ultimately hand all things back to the Father so that God may be "all in all."
The Pauline corpus also raises critical questions about authorship. If Colossians and the Pastoral Epistles are deutero-Pauline, as many scholars believe, their Christological developments may reflect a post-Pauline trajectory rather than Paul's own thought. This distinction matters enormously for reconstructing Paul's actual Christology.
Christological themes
- Christ as kyrios — Paul's most characteristic Christological move is applying the title "Lord" to Jesus, often in contexts where the Hebrew Bible uses it for YHWH. In 1 Corinthians 8:6 he reformulates the Shema itself, distributing the creative functions between "one God, the Father" and "one Lord, Jesus Christ." Whether this includes Jesus within the divine identity or distinguishes him as God's supreme agent is the key question.
- The Philippians hymn — The Carmen Christi (Philippians 2:5–11) is arguably the most important Christological text in Paul. It describes one who existed "in the form of God," emptied himself, and was subsequently exalted to the highest name. Whether "form of God" implies pre-existent deity, Adamic humanity, or divine agency is debated across every tradition.
- Agent of creation — In both 1 Corinthians 8:6 and Colossians 1:15–20, Jesus is described as the one "through whom" all things exist. This mediatorial language echoes Jewish Wisdom traditions and raises the question: is Jesus being identified with personified Wisdom, or with the Creator?
- Eschatological subordination — 1 Corinthians 15:24–28 is Paul's most explicit subordination text. At the end, the Son hands the kingdom to the Father and is himself "subjected" so that God may be "all in all." This passage is central to debates about whether Christ's subordination is temporary (functional) or permanent (ontological).
- Ambiguous God-language — Romans 9:5 and Titus 2:13 are texts where Paul may — depending on translation and punctuation — call Jesus "God." The grammatical ambiguity of these passages makes them fascinating case studies in how much theology can hinge on a comma or an article.
Key passages
Philippians 2:5–11
The Carmen Christi — "In the form of God"
Colossians 1:15–20
Firstborn of all creation
1 Corinthians 8:6
One God, One Lord
1 Corinthians 15:24–28
The Son subjected to the Father
Romans 9:5
God blessed forever — punctuation debate
Titus 2:13
"Our great God and Savior"
What scholars debate
The dominant question in Pauline Christology is whether Paul's exalted language about Christ implies that he saw Jesus as included within the identity of Israel's God (the position of scholars like Bauckham, Hurtado, and Fee) or whether Paul consistently maintained a distinction between the one God and the one Lord (the position of scholars like Dunn, Casey, and McGrath). The same texts are read in radically different ways depending on one's framework.
Authorship questions add complexity. If Colossians 1:15–20 is deutero-Pauline, its cosmic Christology may represent a development beyond what Paul himself would have affirmed. Similarly, Titus 2:13 carries different weight depending on whether one considers the Pastorals authentically Pauline. These are not merely historical questions — they directly shape what we can claim "Paul believed" about Jesus.