What does "Son of God" mean?

Odion · #1 10-11-2008, 05:05 AM

What do you take Jesus meaning 'Son of God' to mean?
Why?

Personally, I believe 'son of God' means 'prophet', because I believe 'son' is used in a metaphorical sense, as though 'sons of the household' means servants of the house, so why not servant of God to mean prophet (or holy man, religious man, etc)?

Anyway, that's enough about what I think on the matter. Can you explain how you believe Jesus was the 'Son' of God? Literally, metaphorically? How?

Thanks all!
Odion

Lucian · #2 10-11-2008, 06:35 AM

I believe Son of God can mean many things. It doesn't necessarily indicate divinity as some may think (this comes from one who does believe in the divinity of Christ). Sometimes it refers to angels, sometimes to kings, or, as you said, holy men. Biblically, we as followers of the Most High through his Christ are also Sons of God. If one is a Son of God then they are by necessity a servant of the Most High.

Dunemeister · #3 10-11-2008, 11:22 AM

Son of God DOES NOT imply or presuppose divinity.

Odion · #4 10-11-2008, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dunemeister

Son of God DOES NOT imply or presuppose divinity.

Care to explain what you believe it to mean? I'm interested in other people's perceptions as to it.

Dunemeister · #5 10-11-2008, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Odion

Care to explain what you believe it to mean? I'm interested in other people's perceptions as to it.

This isn't about perspective or perception. It's entirely about the way the phrase is used. In Jewish history, the title "Son of God" had been used of King David, high officials and judges, the people of Israel considered as a whole, and of Messianic figures, both historical and potential. It therefore had multiple meanings, depending on context.

In Jewish speculation, the term was frequently applied to the Messiah. In Greek-speaking areas, the definite article "ho" was used in conjunction with "Christos" to denote the Messiah, whether promised in scripture or actualized in whatever historical Messianic leader who was around. It was in that sense that the early Christians insisted that Jesus was (is) the son of God as opposed to a son of God.

Odion · #6 10-11-2008, 03:07 PM

Quote:

This isn't about perspective or perception.

It is when you have a broad range of views on here: LDS, Trinitarian, non-Trin, people who hold Jesus to be divine, people who don't... a Trinitarian may believe that "son of God" in reference to Jesus means something else to what you believe it to be, so it's pretty bold a claim to say "it's not that, but it's this!", which is why I've asked what you believe it to be.

Quote:

In Jewish speculation, the term was frequently applied to the Messiah. In Greek-speaking areas, the definite article "ho" was used in conjunction with "Christos" to denote the Messiah, whether promised in scripture or actualized in whatever historical Messianic leader who was around. It was in that sense that the early Christians insisted that Jesus was (is) the son of God as opposed to a son of God.

Thanks for sharing.

Dunemeister · #7 10-11-2008, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Odion

It is when you have a broad range of views on here: LDS, Trinitarian, non-Trin, people who hold Jesus to be divine, people who don't... a Trinitarian may believe that "son of God" in reference to Jesus means something else to what you believe it to be, so it's pretty bold a claim to say "it's not that, but it's this!", which is why I've asked what you believe it to be.

My point in saying that it's not about "perspective" or "perception" is that our opinions don't determine what the words mean. It means what it means based on how it's used in the relevant literature. So people (including me) might have wrong beliefs about the phrase, but if there are varying beliefs, it's because of a lack of experience with the relevant materials. The problem is when people start putting idiosyncratic spins on a word.

So I suppose my cautionary statement is a warning about simply taking a poll about what everyone believes about the phrase and then simply assuming that all views are equally valid. They're not. They need to be tested against what the source material says. And I suppose it's also a caution against assuming we can survey the available opinions and then choose the one that "sits best" with us.

Now of course, you're probably not doing either of these things, but it happens so often that I guess I automatically react this way when there's the appearance of it going on.

Jayhawker Soule · #8 10-11-2008, 08:32 PM

A rather good discussion of the phrase "Son of God" can be found in The Changing Faces of Jesus by Geza Vermes.

Odion · #9 10-12-2008, 02:28 AM

@Dunemeister
You're right on this.

However, I tend to be on the tolerant side and let people, even if I think they may be wrong, have their opinion as well. I don't think all views are equally valid, but I think all views should be equally respected, so I can learn more about the differing views, and why they believe such a thing.

As for myself, your view is also part of mine. Except with my added belief that it also means prophet. I'm not even Christian, but when I was (shortly before I lost my faith), I believed that it came to mean prophet. I dunno how it came to presuppose divinity, though. I personally can't see that from the phrase! If you'd like to start a thread on how that came to happen or something, I'd be interested.

@