Kyrios Christos: A History of the Belief in Christ from the Beginnings of Christianity to Irenaeus

Library of Early Christology

by Wilhelm Bousset

In Kyrios Christos, Wilhelm Bousset argues that the Hellenistic Church's declaration of "Jesus as Lord" is a transformation of the pre-Christian Judaic community's understanding of Jesus as the Son of Man. This unique distinction between the primitive Palestinian community and Hellenistic Christianity reveals how the earliest Christian beliefs were informed by existing religious influences. A well-known classic, Kyrios Christos defined the research agenda for nearly a century concerning the belief in Jesus as Lord and Christ from the New Testament through Irenaeus and his contemporaries. Bousset's landmark, with a new introduction by Larry Hurtado, is now made available for a new generation of students and scholars seeking to delve further into the ancient world of the early Christians.

496 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic work of historical criticism and history of religions scholarship with flawed methodology and conclusions. I mainly read this book as a necessary precursor to Hurtado's Lord Jesus Christ.

[Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly not a very boring book, even if it is somewhat myopically focused on titles as a way of doing a history of Christology.