Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ

Title: Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ
Series: Theology
Published by: Kregel; Illustrated edition
Release Date: January 1, 2007
Contributors: Robert M. Bowman Jr. (Author), J. Ed Komoszewski (Author), Darrell L. Bock (Foreword)
Genre: Academic
Pages: 392
ISBN13: 978-0825429835

The central theological distinctive of Christianity--that Jesus is God incarnate--has repeatedly come under fire from adherents to other religions and scholars who interpret Jesus as a prophet, angel, or guru. Putting Jesus in His Place is designed to introduce Christians to the wealth of biblical teaching on the deity of Christ. Using evidence from the New Testament, this book helps readers appreciate the significance of Christ's deity in a personal relationship with Him, and gives them the confidence to share the truth about Jesus with others. The book is divided into five sections, each corresponding to an aspect of the New Testament's revelation of Jesus as God, and using an acronym based on the letters in the word HANDS:

H-Honors (Jesus shares the honors that are due God)
A-Attributes (Jesus shares the attributes of God)
N-Names (Jesus shares the names of God)
D-Deeds (Jesus shares the deeds that God does)
S-Seat (Jesus shares the seat of God's eternal throne)

Putting Jesus in His Place engages objections to the divine identity of Jesus Christ from Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Muslims, Unitarians, and other religious perspectives. Its emphasis throughout, however, is on the positive case for the deity of Christ. The book introduces the reader to cutting-edge scholarship on New Testament Christology and makes the information accessible and usable for those who are not biblical scholars or theologians. Endorsed by an impressive lineup of leading specialists in the field including Martin Hengel, Richard Bauckham, I. Howard Marshall, Craig A. Evans, Daniel B. Wallace, Murray J. Harris, and Larry Hurtado, Putting Jesus in His Place is an indispensable introduction and reference on the New Testament teaching about the identity of Jesus Christ.

Review

Martin Hengel Professor Emeritus of University of Tübingen, Germany : An exceedingly readable and intelligible book on a centraloand hotly debatedotheme of the Christian message. The work is based upon a scholarly, well-informed investigation of the most important Christological texts in the New Testament. It gives not only rich biblical information to the reader but also practical pastoral guidance.

Fred Sanders Biola University : You might be surprised to learn that the case for Christ's deity has actually become stronger during the past couple of decades. The average, reasonably l-informed Christian has probably missed out on the flood of new approaches, observations, and lines of argument that have been flowing from the scholarly books and journals lately. Bowman and Komoszewski's Putting Jesus in His Place has gathered the best of all this recent scholarship and put it together in one readable, memorable, and engaging volume. If you graduated from seminary twenty years ago, you need to know that your notes are out of date and that there are exciting new ways of presenting the case that Jesus is God. I know of no other book that gathers such a wide variety of different types of biblical evidence for this doctrine, organizing it clearly and making all the right connections. While reading the book, I found myself at several points thinking, It's too bad that a popular-level book like this can't afford to give the details on some of the more complicated evidence, only to discover that Bowman and Komoszewski plunged right in and provided easy-to-understand summaries of the specialist scholarship. Putting Jesus in His Place is the book I've been looking for to put into the hands of believers who want to understand how the New Testament teaches that Jesus is God.

Kenneth Samples : Putting Jesus in His Place is a clearly written and carefully reasoned defense of the biblical doctrine of the deity of Christ. Bowman and Komoszewski present a virtually comprehensive case for embracing Jesusi full and unqualified divinity. This book should be required reading in every evangelical church study group and in college and seminary classes in theology and in the study of religions that deny the deity of Christ.

Rev. Mark D. Roberts, Ph.D. Irvine Presbyterian Church : As a pastor with a commitment to engage in serious scholarship, and as a scholar with a commitment to communicate with non-specialists, I'm always looking for books that address pressing topics in a way that is academically solid yet available to a wide audience. Putting Jesus in His Place is just such a book. Nothing is more critical in today's world than the question of Jesusi true identity. It is often claimed that his divinity was a late invention by the church, and is not taught in the New Testament. Putting Jesus in His Place shows the folly of this claim by an exacting analysis of the New Testament data. The facts are clear: the New Testament writers regarded Jesus as God, both implicitly and explicitly. Putting Jesus in His Place will reassure Christians of the truth and prepare them to be articulate, well-informed defenders of this truth in the wider world. Anyone who reads this book will no longer fall prey to the mistaken notion of the deity of Christ as some later addition to authentic Christian faith. Instead, every reader will be challenged to acknowledge the ancient affirmation of Jesus as God, and to consider the personal implications of this confession for contemporary living.

I. Howard Marshall Professor Emeritus, University of Aberdeen, Scotland : This book is a very comprehensive study of all the material in the New Testament that testifies to or is consistent with the full deity of Jesus Christ, the sheer quantity of which may come as a surprise to some readers. There is helpful detailed discussion of many controversial passages that will be useful to students who want to go more deeply into the problems.

Craig A. Evans Acadia Divinity College, Nova Scotia, Canada : Putting Jesus in His Place is a reader-friendly treatment of a difficult topic, one that is often neglected in New Testament scholarship. Bowman and Komoszewski clarify the issues, focus on the key passages, and mount an impressive defense of a cardinal Christian doctrine. Anyone who wonders about the divinity of Jesus should read this book.

Paul Copan Palm Beach Atlantic University West Palm Beach, FL : This wide-ranging yet accessible book by Bowman and Komoszewski is a splendid compilation of the evidenceoboth explicit and impliedofor Jesusi deity, which pervades the New Testament. The authors make a convincing case as they discuss biblical texts, interact with important recent literature, and present the striking significance and entailments of Jesus' divinity. A remarkable work!

Roger E. Olson George W. Truett Theological Seminary : Putting Jesus in His Place puts denials of Jesusi deity in their placeothe dustbin of faulty logic and poor historical research. Anyone who claims to believe the Bible or respect Jesus as a great prophet and yet denies the deity of Jesus Christ will be compelled by this book to give up one of those assertions. Either such persons will have to deny the Bibleis authority and Jesusi sincerity or sanity or they will have to accept his deity. I recommend this book to everyone who doubts the deity of Jesus Christ or engages such a doubter in dialogue or debate.

Daniel B. Wallace Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts : Finally, here is a book that lays out the case for the deity of Christ in clear, compelling, memorable language. Putting Jesus in His Place fills a huge gap by converting the best of biblical scholarship on the subject into language that anyone can understand. This book is a feast for the mind; the endnotes give the reader a glimpse of the meticulous work the authors went through to make the reading so palatable. The acronym HANDS is an ingenious memory device to help any Christian know the basic teaching about Jesusi deity. When you learn what it means, youill never forget what the New Testament affirms about the divinity of our Lord. I thank God that Bowman and Komoszewski have combined their talents on this supremely important topic and well-written book. The church of the 21st century is in their debt.

Craig L. Blomberg Denver Seminary : The one thing we have no record of Jesus of Nazareth ever saying is iI am God,i though countless charlatans and madmen over the centuries have used precisely these words. As a result, some people, including some Christians, think the case for Jesusi deity rests solely on the half-dozen passages in the New Testament where others directly call him eGod.i Bowman and Komoszewski here offer massive disproof of this minimalist notion. While a sizable majority of the texts they survey afford implicit rather than explicit evidence for the deity of Jesus, and while it is possible to dispute the implications they derive from certain passages, it is impossible to dismiss the cumulative case that the first Christians, following Jesusi own lead, viewed him as God incarnate, and that the New Testament is replete with dozens of texts that attest this conviction. The book itself is remarkably clear and uncluttered, but detailed endnotes interact with almost all of the significant, recent relevant scholarship as well. Warmly to be commended.

Craig J. Hazen Biola University : Rarely have I seen such a comprehensive and deeply scholarly presentation in theology at such an accessible leveloand on one of the most important topics anyone can study: the deity of Christ. Bowman and Komoszewski obviously know this topic as well as anyone in the world because it takes that depth of knowledge to present a case like this in language that can be grasped by non-scholars in every walk of life. I predict this will be a standard textbook on the subject and a much-used resource for anyone who wants to make the case for Jesusi deity to unbelievers such as Muslims, Mormons, Jehovahis Witnesses, New Agers, and skeptics in this generation.

Ravi Zacharias Ravi Zacharias International Ministries : Putting Jesus in His Place is a meticulously researched and brilliant book on a subject that continues to remain significant even after 2000 years. Robert Bowman and Ed Komoszewski have given readers a unique and unparalleled resourceoand one with life-changing implications. I commend this volume to you with much appreciation for their work.

Richard Bauckham St. Mary's College, University of St Andrews : Bowman and Komoszewski do a splendid job of showing that the divine identity of Jesus is not confined to a few key texts, but presented throughout the New Testament in a wide variety of ways. Their arguments are fully based on the best of recent scholarship, and explained in a way that all serious readers of the New Testament will appreciate.

Murray J. Harris Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Deerfield, IL : An exciting, compelling and user-friendly investigation of the full range of New Testament evidence for the unique divine identity of Jesus Christ, admirably suitable for the non-specialist reader, yet with detailed up-to-date specialist notes.

Thomas R. Schreiner Southern Baptist Theological Seminary : The deity of Jesus Christ is central and foundational to the gospel. Bowman and Komoszewski show that Christis deity pervades the New Testament and is not limited to a few proof texts. Those who have eyes to see will find it everywhere, and if your eyes are deficient this book is just the corrective you need. The work is convincing, clear, and scholarly. Most of all, the book is glorious, reminding us that Jesus is to be worshiped as our Lord, Savior, and God.

Gary DeMar Biblical Worldview Magazine : Bowman and Komoszewski are the watchmen on the wall of Christological studies to keep us focused on the biblical witness of the one and only authentic Jesus, the only Jesus who saves to the utmost. This is one of the finest pieces of readable scholarship ever written on the subject.

Larry W. Hurtado University of Edinburgh, Scotland : This book gathers up admirably the results of a number of recent studies that combine to show how remarkably early Jesus was reverenced as somehow ring a divine status, and how this reverence was exhibited overtly in a whole range of confessional terms and devotional actions. Whether or not one shares the authorsi own particular stance on some matters, they have provided a readable and well-informed summary of a large body of scholarly work showing a very early and very high view of Jesus, not as something emerging by slow evolution, but as an explosively quick and remarkable phenomenon.

Mark L. Bailey Dallas Theological Seminary : Jesus said it best when He said, iHe who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.i The Crisis of our culture is the Crisis of the Christ. Putting Jesus in His Place is a comprehensive apologetic from the Scriptures for the Person and work of Jesus Christ. From His names to His nature, from His works to His worship, this book will lead you from the descriptive affirmations to the well deserved adoration owed to our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. This book should be in every home and library.

Kenneth Boa Reflections Ministries, Atlanta, GA : Putting Jesus in His Place is the finest and most comprehensive apologetic for the deity of Christ that I have yet encountered. The material is rigorous yet highly accessible because of the transparency of the structure and the directness of the style. It is my hope that this book will become a standard resource for educational institutions and for people who desire a clearer vision of the Lord Jesus.
From the Publisher

In the culturally aware and practical style of the popular Reinventing Jesus, two noted New Testament scholars present a unique and comprehensive approach to understanding the diety of Christ and its basis in Scripture. That Jesus is God in human form is central to Christianity. Recently, attacks on this truth have become more frequent as false religions continue to propagate views of Jesus as an angel, prophet, or guru.