From Jesus to Christology

In light of two certain books about Jesus as God which are on the verge of being published, this little quote is quite interesting:

If Jesus thought of himself as the decisive messenger of God’s kingdom and as mediator between God and Israel and if he used the expression “bar nasha” in that sense as a self-referential phrase, the application of other designations like “Messiah” or “Son of God,” as well as “high” Christology that speaks of Jesus as God’s word or image, would become explicable as interpretations and elaborations of an impulse origination with Jesus himself.

Jens Schröter, “Remarks on James D. G. Dunn’s Approach to Jesus Research,” in Memories of Jesus: A Critical Appraisal of James D. G. Dunn’s Jesus Remembered,” eds. R.B. Stewart and G.R. Habermas (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2010), 142.