Johannine & Pauline Christology

Introduction

It is a commonly held belief among skeptics, specifically anti-Trinitarians, that the Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew and Luke) present a very low Christology in comparison to the later, more developed Christology of the Johannine corpus. It is asserted that most of the scriptural proofs which orthodox believers produce to support Christ's Divinity or his prehuman existence stem primarily from the Gospel of John since Christians rarely cite from the first three Gospels (Lierman, 2006, pp. 69-72).

The aim of this paper will be to focus on the testimony of the Synoptic Gospels in order to challenge this assertion. We will be looking at specific statements which are found within the Synoptics that speak of Christ coming or being sent to accomplish a specific task and compare them in light of certain passages which are found throughout the Holy Bible, especially within the Pauline and Johannine corpus.

The purpose for doing this is to show how the Synoptics clearly testify to the preexistence of Christ since they employ language that is reminiscent to what the Holy Bible says concerning God and angels coming or being sent from heaven to perform specific functions. We will further see that these statements are strikingly similar to the preexistence passages found throughout the writings of the Apostles Paul and John (Sadananda, 2004, pp. 15-19).

Discussion

The Holy Bible often speaks of God or angels coming or being sent from heaven to carry out certain tasks, as the following examples testify:

"And the angel of the LORD said to him, 'Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me.'" Numbers 22:32

"Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, 'Are you for us or for our enemies?' 'Neither,' he replied, 'but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.' Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, 'What message does my Lord have for his servant?' The commander of the LORD's army replied, 'Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.' And Joshua did so." Joshua 5:13-15

"The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God (Roskovec, 2004, pp. 110-112). Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, 'Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.' Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

For waters break ...