Modern Greek Theatre: A Quest for Hellenism Book

Martin Hengel was an outstanding yet controversial scholar.

He is outstanding because of his breadth of knowledge; with ease he moves from ancient Jewish to Latin to Greek sources, displaying a mastery of multiple languages and multiple fields: exegetical Theology, Patristics, biblical Theology, philology, archaeology, history, and literature (not to mention he is well-versed in continental Theology and shows familiarity with basically every theological monograph published in Germany from 1900 to his own day).

He is controversial because of his very conservative conclusions.

In this particular book he is both outstanding and controversial because he somehow offers, in only 93 pages, an appraisal of the "son of God" concept in Greek and Latin literature, ancient Jewish religion (scriptural, Rabbinical and mystical), the so-called "mystery religions," and finally Paul and the New Testament authors. Along the way he takes the "Religionsgeschichte" scholars to task, refutes Bultmann and his school, and establishes the surprising stability of early Jewish-Christian Christology.

And that is the shocking thesis of this book: in the first 20 years of the Church, from 30 to 50 A.D., "primitive" Christianity had a richly developed, fully formed Christology.

If we take Paul's letters as the earliest works of the New Testament (which they are), and if we look at the internal evidence that demonstrates Paul's reliance on earlier Christological hymns and formulas, then we have to conclude that Christology developed quickly. Especially if we note, as Hengel does again and again, the many echoes between the New Testament's concept of "son of God" and that concept found in other Jewish books (such as Daniel, Enoch, the Qumran writings, and the works of Philo), we have to conclude that the so-called "Wisdom Christology" of the New Testament is not a late, Gnostic addition to what people were saying about Jesus, but reflects a much earlier theology.
Christology was always "high," because it has its antecedents in complex works that precede it by nearly two centuries. The Christians simply connected the Wisdom of God to the Son of God to the Word of God from the very beginning. This appears as something "late," but there is no longer a reason to think this.

Hengel's work is fresh, exciting, conservative. He reads his sources closely and carefully, avoiding hasty conclusions and moving according to his method. His books are always a challenge and a pleasure to read.