Paul's Faith in the "Lord" Jesus
Did He C.A.S.E. it from the Pagans?
(Ref. Wilhelm Bousset, Kyrios Christos, (Abingdon Press, 1970)
I. Kyrios (Lord) in the New Testament and Paganism
A. In Paul: A Standard Title for Jesus
E.g. 1Cor 1:2, 13; 5:4-5; 6:11; 10:21; 11:20; 12:1-3; 16:22 (Maranatha);
2Cor 12:8; Rom 10:9, 12; Phil 2:9ff.
B. In the Gospels: (Taking into consideration textual criticism)
1. Kyrios as a title occurs:
a. Nowhere in Q
b. Only once in Mark at 11:3, but not in reference to Jesus
c. Only in Matthew's parallel to Mark 11:3, Matthew 21:3
d. Once in Luke's Aramaic source for his Infancy Stories at 2:1,
but as a mistranslation of the traditional Hebrew formula for
"the Christ of the Lord" instead of "the Lord Christ."e. 15 more times in Luke: 7:13; 10:1, 39, 41; 11:39; 12:42; 13:15;
17:5, 6; 18:6; 19:8; 22:31, 61 (2x); 24:3, 34f. Numerous times in Acts, also written by Luke
g. Nowhere in the Gospel or Epistles of John except in the inauthentic
parts of the last two chapters of the Gospel, and only where the
disciples are speaking of Jesus in the third person.h. Twice in the later inauthentic ending of Mark at 16:19 & 20
i. 6 times in the later inauthentic Gospel of the Hebrews
j. 13 times in the later inauthentic Gospel of Peter
Conclusions:
The use of the title Kyrios (Lord, Yahweh) in reference to Jesus is absent from the earliest Palestinian community. Its usage in the Gospel literature begins with Luke, under Pauline influence, and continues on and increases in the later Christian Pseudepigraphical Literature. Jesus never designates himself as Kyrios, but is called this in third person references to him by others.
C. In the Greco-Roman World: (A few examples)
1. Athenaios VI, 253, Athenians praise Demetrios Poliorketes as an incarnate god, "We pray to you, give us peace, for you are the Lord (Kyrios)."
2. A May 12, 62 BCE Inscription in a temple of Isis refers to Ptolemy XIII as "Lord (Kyrios) God King"
3. A 52 BCE Inscription in Alexandria refers to Cleopatra VII (THE Cleopatra) and her brother Ptolemy XIV as the "Greatest Lords (Kyrioi) Gods"
4. A Syrian Inscription refers to Tiberius (14-37 CE) and his wife Livia as "Lords (Kyrioi) Augusti"
5. Usage of "Lord" (Kyrios) in reference to the Roman Emperors increases under Caligula (37-41) & Claudius (41-54) but becomes most widespread during the reign of Nero (54-67), who ruled during Paul's greatest activity and by whom Paul was executed. There are hundreds of inscriptions, papyri, and ostraka referring to Nero as "Lord" (Kyrios).
6. Apart from humans being referred to as "Lord God," Greek deities also were commonly given the title Kyrios, i.e., Zeus, Apollo, Helios, Athena, Dionysus, Isis, Hecate, Asclepius, Cybele, Hermes, Pan, Sarapis, Osiris, and numerous other deities from Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor.
Conclusions:
During the Greco-Roman period the title "Lord" (Kyrios) was commonly applied throughout the eastern Mediterranean to gods and humans who were considered to be gods because of their divine parentage or because of their status as royalty. Paul first began to apply this title to Jesus as part of his mission to the non-Jews who were steeped in Greco-Roman culture. It is especially relevant that the use of this title with reference to an Emperor-God became most widespread in the time of Nero, who ruled when Paul was preaching and writing his most important letters. It seems that Paul may have promoted the "Lord" Jesus as a rival and alternative to the very unpopular Nero. Paul was executed by Nero in Rome around 64 CE.
II. Faith (Under Construction)
Plato - De congr. erud. causa, 141
Cf. Clement of Alexandria - Stromateis II, 2.9.4; 2.8-9; 5.24; 6.27
Stobaeus - Ecl. II, 6, 6, p. 32
Philo Judaeus - De Virt. 216; De Conf. ling. 51; Q. rer. div. haer. 101;
De Ebr. 40, 188