Monotheism is a powerful religious concept shaped by competing ideas and the problems they raised. Surveying New Testament writings and Jewish sources from before and after the rise of Christianity, James F. McGrath argues that even the most developed Christologies in the New Testament fit within the context of first century Jewish monotheism. McGrath pinpoints when the parting of ways took place over the issue of God's oneness, and explores philosophical ideas such as "creation out of nothing" which caused Jews and Christians to develop differing concepts and definitions about God.|Preface vii
1. Monotheism and Method: An Introduction to the Study of Early Jewish and Christian Thought about God 1
2. Worship and the Question of Jewish Monotheism in the Greco-Roman Era 23
3. Monotheism and the Letters Attributed to Paul 38
4. Monotheism and the Gospel of John 55
5. Monotheism and Worship in the Book of Revelation 71
6. Two Powers Heresy: Rethinking (and Redating) the Parting of Ways between Jewish and Christian Monotheism 81
Conclusion 97
Notes 105
Bibliography 131
Index of Modern Authors 149
Index of Subjects 152
Index of Ancient Sources 154|

"Sheds new light on the date and reasons for the division between Jewish and Christian monotheism. . . . Recommended."—Choice

"An important corrective to the view that tends to interpret New Testament Christology in terms of Nicaea and later developments, thereby missing the Jewish intertextual and hermeneutical keys to interpreting many New Testament texts."—Review of Biblical Literature
"Provocative and valuable."—Journal of Ecumenical Studies
|James F. McGrath is Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University. He is the author of John's Apologetic Christology: Legitimation and Development in Johannine Christology and The Burial of Jesus: History and Faith.