From Messiah to Preexistent Son

How did the earliest Christians come to see Jesus as a divine and preexistent being alongside God? Aquila Lee proposes that the root of preexistent Son Christology is to be found in early Christian exegesis of the two messianic psalms (the catalyst) in the light of Jesus''s self-consciousness of divine sonship and divine mission (the foundation).Dr Lee has made a significant contribution to research on one of the central topics of New Testament study, the origin of the early church''s understanding of the divinity and pre-existence of Jesus Christ. Its great merit is to show how christology may have developed under the twofold influences of the self-consciousness of Jesus and the early church''s understanding of its Scriptures, and it deserves to be placed alongside the works of R. Bauckham and L. Hurtado in helping to establish a case for the early development of a high christology. The publishers deserve our gratitude for making Dr. Lee''s work more widely accessible to New Testament students. -- I. Howard Marshall, Emeritus Professor of New Testament Exegesis, University of Aberdeen In From Messiah to Preexistent Son Aquila Lee asks how early Christians came to see Jesus as a divine and preexistent being, alongside God. This important question goes right to the heart of Christology and the historic Christian faith. Lee convincingly shows that the belief in the divinity of Jesus originates in the teaching and ministry of Jesus himself. This is a provocative and engaging study that repays careful reading. It is a pleasure for me to recommend it.-- Craig A. Evans, Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Acadia Divinity College, Nova Scotia, Canada  Dr. Lee presents an impressive Christological thesis concisely and with many important exegetical insights. Its carefully developed argument deserves to be listened to attentively. -- Martin Karrer, Professor für Neues Testament und seine Umwelt, Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal/Bethel  Dr. Lee''s contribution may be compared to that of Seyoon Kim''s The Origin of Paul''s Gospel on Pauline studies. If Lee''s work fails to exert the influence it deserves, I believe it is not because his thesis lacks compelling force, but because paradigm shifts in scholarship such as the one necessitated by Lee''s work (if accurate) are not always a function of superior evidence but can be expected to be resisted by those who have invested a significant amount of scholarly capital in the currently-reigning paradigm. In any case, this is highly recommended reading on an extremely important subject.-- Andreas J. Köstenberger, Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology and Director of PhD Studies, Southeastern Baptist Theological SeminaryAquila Hyung Il Lee (PhD, University of Aberdeen) was born in Seoul, Korea. He is Lecturer in New Testament and Greek at Biblical Graduate School of Theology in Singapore.