Jesus the Eternal Son: Answering Adoptionist Christology

Adoptionism—the idea that Jesus is portrayed in the Bible as a human figure who was adopted as God's son at his baptism or resurrection—has been commonly accepted in much recent scholarship as the earliest explanation of Jesus's divine status. In this book Michael Bird draws that view into question with a thorough examination of pre-Pauline materials, the Gospel of Mark, and patristic sources.

Engaging critically with Bart Ehrman, James Dunn, and other scholars, Bird demonstrates that a ful...