“Too many attempts to explain the advent of early high Christology pay insufficient attention to the historical Jesus. This, as Pitre rightly recognizes, is a huge blunder. The error not only leaves much about early Christianity unexplained but overlooks much in the Synoptics that should count as history. Even if one disagrees with some of his answers, Pitre is asking the right questions and pushing the guild in the right direction.”
—Dale C. Allison Jr., Richard J. Dearborn Professor of New Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary

“[This book is a ‘scholarly majority’ buster! And a deeply learned and persuasive one at that! The earliest Christ followers seemed to understand Jesus to be fully divine. Fair enough—but what did Jesus himself think? He didn’t kick around the shores of Galilee announcing his divinity, right? 'Greetings, Capernaumites, I’m God. Don’t look at me like that, I’m begotten not made, didn’t you know!' So all that divine Christology must be a later Christian theological imposition, right? Wrong! The claim that Jesus is the divine Messiah indeed makes more sense of the data than any alternatives. Well beyond a mere trotting out of the same well-worn arguments, Pitre presents an up-to-date case that ‘the “smoke” of early divine Christology originated in the “fire” of Jesus’s own divine messianism.’ This is an explosive blend of courage, logic, and premier biblical scholarship!”
—Chris Tilling, head of research and senior lecturer in New Testament studies, St. Mellitus College

“Finally! By showing from history that Jesus made divine claims about himself, Brant Pitre has compelled the prodigal quest for the historical Jesus to return home. This book should be received with open arms, because it is both necessary and convincing.”
—Matthew W. Bates, author of The Birth of the Trinity; professor of New Testament, Northern Seminary

“Brant Pitre has established himself as the preeminent Catholic historical-Jesus scholar alive today—and indeed as one of the most important Christian thinkers of the twenty-first century. In a series of major works he has taken on such themes as Jesus’s understanding of the eschatological tribulation and the restoration of Israel, Jesus’s understanding of the Eucharist (and of himself as the New Passover Lamb and New Moses), and the meaning of Jesus’s kingdom proclamation. The present book engages perhaps the biggest question of all: did Jesus think of himself not only as human but also as divine? Immensely readable and erudite, this persuasive and brilliant book will be a touchstone for all future studies of this controversial topic.”
—Matthew Levering, James N. Jr. and Mary D. Perry Chair of Theology, Mundelein Seminary

“This study bridges the gap between Jesus of Nazareth and the early church by situating the question of Jesus’s self-understanding within its appropriate context in early Judaism. In so doing, Brant Pitre has made a strong case that all four canonical gospels present us with a Jesus who understood himself to be divine and that it is plausible that the historical Jesus did as well. Even more impressively, he has done so in a book that is readable and enjoyable.”
—Jordan J. Cruz Ryan, associate professor of New Testament, Wheaton College

“It is odd indeed that debate about Christology in the early Jesus movement has been able to get along in recent years without any serious discussion of the historical Jesus. We are in Pitre’s debt for filling that lacuna with his characteristic clarity of expression, creativity, and literary sensitivity. Everyone working in this area will have to wrestle with the claims of this important book.”
—Tucker S. Ferda, author of Jesus and His Promised Second Coming: Jewish Eschatology and Christian Origins; associate professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Brant Pitre is Distinguished Research Professor of Scripture at the Augustine Institute Graduate School of Theology. He has authored numerous books, including Jesus and the Last Supper and (with Michael P. Barber and John A. Kincaid) Paul, a New Covenant Jew: Rethinking Pauline Theology.

Table of Contents

1. The Problem 
          The Quest and Jesus’s Divinity 
          Early High Christology 
          Four Historical Warrants 
          Method of Proceeding 
2. The Epiphany Miracles 
          The Miracles of Jesus 
          Stilling the Storm 
          Walking on the Sea 
          The Transfiguration 
3. The Riddles of Jesus’s Divinity 
          The Teacher of Parables 
          Greater than Father or Mother 
          No One is Good but God 
          The Riddle of David’s Lord  
4. The Apocalyptic Secret 
          The Apocalyptic Jesus 
          The Heavenly Son of Man 
          The Question of John the Baptist 
          The Apocalyptic “Thunderbolt” 
5. Crucified for Blasphemy 
          The Criterion of Execution 
          They Picked Up Stones 
          You Make Yourself God 
          The Charge of Blasphemy 
6. Implications 
          Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit 
          Early Divine Christology 
          The Parting of the Ways 
          The Long Road to Nicaea 
Acknowledgments 
Indexes