Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

GOD IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, NAMES OF

The three principal terms for the deity in the NT are “Lord,” “God,” and “Father.”

The NT refers to the deity as the “Lord” (Gk. kýrios) ca. 180 times. More than 70 of these occurrences are in scriptural quotations and allusions, where they typically translate the Hebrew word YHWH (“Yahweh”). Although this usage cannot otherwise be demonstrated in the 1st century, contemporary Jews did refer to God as the Lord. While most NT references to the Lord are simple articular or anarthrous references (without any apparent difference in meaning), a few are in phrases like “Lord of heaven and earth” and “Lord God of Israel.” It is unclear if some references to the Lord (e.g., Matt. 3:3) refer to the deity or Jesus.

The noun “God” (theós), which is a title rather than a divine name, occurs more than 1300 times in the NT. Most of these occurrences refer to the God proclaimed by the NT; these occurrences presuppose the Jewish teaching that “the Lord our God is one” (Mark 12:29). Most of these occurrences are articular, though articular and anarthrous references are used without any difference in meaning. Many of these references to God are in scriptural quotations, where they often translate Heb. ʾĕlōhîm. Other occurrences of theós refer to the devil (2 Cor. 4:4), other supernatural beings (Acts 14:1), and even a goddess (19:37).

The NT uses the epithet “Father” 261 times, usually in multi-word phrases such as “my Father,” “your Father,” “the Father in heaven,” and “God our Father.” Although this metaphor occasionally occurs in the OT, comparatively few of the NT references to the Father are in scriptural quotations. While many NT passages identify the Father as the Father of Jesus, many others identify the Father as the Father of the disciples.

The historical Jesus presupposed Jewish monotheism. Jesus was not reticent to use the term “God,” especially when proclaiming the nearness of the kingdom of God. Many scholars assume that Jesus also referred to God as Father.

Mark contains 48 references to God but fewer than 10 to the Lord and only four to the Father. While the references to God occur in material in many different settings, the references to the Father are only in Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36) and his words to his disciples (8:38; 11:25; 13:32).

The Q material contains at least five references to the Lord, nine to God, and nine to the Father. In five of the references the Father is identified as the Father of Jesus (Luke 10:21bd, 22abc), in the other four as the Father of the disciples (Luke 6:36; 11:2, 13; 12:30).

Matthew contains 19 references to the Lord, 50 to God, and 44 to the Father. Matt. 1–2 stress that the Lord who spoke through the prophets is the same Lord who acted during the infancy events, and Matt. 3–4 associate God with the Scriptures and divine power. Jesus’ sayings in Matt. 5:43-48 introduce the cluster of references to the Father in 6:1-8 (“your Father”) which associate the Father with the divine will, prayer, forgiveness, and eschatological reward. In most of Jesus’ references after the Sermon on the Mount the Father is identified as his own Father (“my Father”). While many of the Matthean references to God are in Jesus’ words to his adversaries or the discourse of his adversaries, all of the references to the Father are in Jesus’ prayers, his words to his disciples, or his words to audiences composed of his disciples and the crowds.

By repeatedly associating the Lord with the heritage of Israel, the Lukan Infancy narrative proclaims that the Lord who acted during the infancy events was the Lord of Israel. Luke 3–24 and Acts, however, refer much more frequently to God than to the Lord or the Father. While both Jesus and other speakers frequently refer to the deity as God, only Jesus uses the epithet “Father” in this Gospel. Though occurring only 16 or 17 times, these references to the Father stand at prominent points in the story. Many of the references to God in Acts are in speeches, where they often serve as the subjects of statements which proclaim God’s acts in the story of Israel and the story of Jesus, especially the Resurrection. Since references to the Father appear only in Acts 1–2 and most of the references to the Lord are in Acts 1–15, God is virtually the only title in the last half of Acts.

The seven authentic letters of Paul contain 430 references to God but only 30 to the Lord and only 24 to the Father. Since the salutations of all of these letters introduce the deity as “God our Father” (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3; Phil. 1:2; Phlm. 3) or “God the Father” (1 Thess. 1:1), they implicitly associate the Father with the subsequent references to God. Most of the other 17 references to the Father are in passages which also mention God; the only exceptions are a reference to the Father in a scriptural quotation (2 Cor. 6:18), one in traditional material (Rom. 6:4), and two references to “Abba Father” (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). Half of the references to the Lord are in scriptural quotations or allusions.

John is the only canonical Gospel which refers more frequently to the Father than to God. Most of the 120 references to the Father are in Jesus’ words, and most are in passages which primarily identify the deity as Jesus’ Father. Jesus also frequently refers to the deity as “the One who sent me” (e.g., John 4:34; 5:23-24). Both the narrator (John 1:1, 18) and Thomas (20:28) refer to Jesus as God. Many of the other references to God are in Jesus’ words, including his assertions that God is “spirit” (John 4:24) and “the only true God” (17:3); however, the word “God” occurs much more frequently than Father in the discourse of speakers other than Jesus, including such varied speakers as Nicodemus, Peter, Martha, Caiaphas, and Pilate. This Gospel has only five references to the Lord.

The Johannine Epistles refer much more frequently to God than to the Father, with 1 John stressing that “God is light” (1 John 1:5) and “God is love” (4:8). While the other Epistles and Revelation refer much more frequently to God than to the Lord or the Father, 2 Peter and Jude contain nearly as many references to the Lord as to God.

Besides using the words “Eli” (“my God,” Matt. 27:46) and “Eloi” (“my God,” Mark 15:34), the NT authors occasionally use such other titles as the “Great King” (Matt. 5:35), “the One who sits on the throne” (Matt. 23:22), “Power” (Matt. 26:64; Mark 14:62), the “Blessed One” (Mark 14:61), the “Most High” (Luke 1:32), “Lord Sabaoth” (Rom. 9:29), “God our Savior” (1 Tim. 1:1), “Majesty” (Heb. 1:3; 8:1), “Father of lights” (Jas. 1:17), and “Lord God Almighty” (Rev. 4:8). Various authors also use such longer constructions as “the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation” (2 Cor. 1:3) and “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15). Early Christian liturgical language lies behind a number of these passages. Some NT authors indirectly refer to the deity by using divine passives and expressing divine necessity with the verb deí (“it is necessary”).

Bibliography. D. M. Bossman, “Images of God in the Letters of Paul,” BTB 18 (1988): 67-76; R. L. Mowery, “God, Lord and Father: The Theology of the Gospel of Matthew,” BR 33 (1988): 24-36; “Lord, God and Father: Theological Language in Luke-Acts,” SBLSP 34 (Atlanta, 1995): 82-101.

Robert L. Mowery

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

GOD IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, NAMES OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)