| The chief objectives of this dissertation are (1) to critique the conceptual framework within which the term "son of God" has usually been construed in biblical scholarship and (2) to re-interpret divine sonship in the socio-political context of early Christianity. Chapter 1, "'Son of God' in the Roman World," shows how scholarship on divine sonship in the New Testament has relied anachronistically on the philosophical and theological categories of later eras. It also reviews recent scholarship on divinity in Roman religion, with special attention to significant studies of emperor worship. Chapter 2, "Begotten or Made? Adopted Sons in Roman Imperial Ideology," analyzes the relationship between natural (begotten) and adoptive (made) sonship in Roman society and imperial ideology. It focuses on the use of adoption among Roman elites and emperors to transmit power from father to son. When read in the light of Roman social practices, emperor worship, and imperial ideology, several early Christian texts take on new meaning. Chapter 3, "Rethinking Divine Sonship in the Gospel of Mark," demonstrates the ways in which Mark's image of Jesus and his followers interacts with that of the Roman emperor and the imperial family. The practice of adoption in the political ideology of Mark's era allows us to re-imagine his Christology in unexpected ways. Chapter 4, "Begotten and Adopted in Early Christianity," synthesizes a broad range of texts in order to show the shifting relationship between begotten and adoptive metaphors during the first four centuries of Christianity. These texts anchor the previous chapter's interpretation of Mark's Christology, while they also show how divine sonship came to be distinguished over time as either "begotten" or "made." In the end, with revised understandings of several ancient phenomena---especially divine status, adoption, and baptism---this dissertation aims toward an ambitious goal: to rethink the Christian Son of God in the Roman world. |
