Jesus’ Intitulation of God as Abba: Its Sources and Impact on the Idea of the Fatherhood of God in the New Testament

Stefan Szymik

The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin , Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9544-2976


Abstract

In the article, the author discusses Jesus’ intitulation of God as Abba and its impact on the idea of God’s fatherhood in the New Testament writings. Responding to the recent criticism of J. Jeremias’s theses (cf. B. Chilton, M.R. D’Angelo), he tries to show that without the initial source, which was Jesus of Nazareth and his public teaching, the dynamic expansion of the idea of ​​God’s fatherhood in the New Testament would not be possible. After a brief presentation of J. Jeremias’s ground-breaking opinion on Jesus’ filial relation to God as Father, encapsulated in the “Abba, Father” cry (Mk 14:36), a second section analyses the texts of the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism that explore the theological idea of​ God as Father. The third part focuses on the NT witnesses to God’s fatherhood, i.e. God both as the Father of Jesus Christ and the Father of all believers (υἱοθεσία). In conclusion, the literary evidence preserved in the NT writings and rational arguments point to Jesus of Nazareth as the source and starting point of the NT idea of God’s fatherhood. Jeremias’s study is still valid, and the address “Abba-Father” uttered by the historical Jesus remains the most concise and fullest expression of his filial relation to God.

Keywords:

Abba, Joachim Jeremias, God the Father, the fatherhood of God, the Son of God, adoption to sonship (υἱοθεσία)

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Published
2020-12-21


Szymik, S. (2020). Jesus’ Intitulation of God as Abba: Its Sources and Impact on the Idea of the Fatherhood of God in the New Testament. Verbum Vitae, 38(2), 485–502. https://doi.org/10.31743/vv.10354

Stefan Szymik  stesz@kul.pl
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin

Ks. Stefan Szymik, Misjonarz Świętej Rodziny (MSF), profesor nauk teologicznych, specjalistyczne studia biblijne odbył w Katolickim Uniwersytecie Lubelskim (1982-1987) oraz w Papieskim Instytucie Biblijnym w Rzymie (1991-1994), od 1985 wykładowca pism Nowego Testamentu w WSD MSF w Kazimierzu Biskupim, k. Konina (Wydział Teologiczny UAM w Poznaniu), od 1995 zatrudniony w Instytucie Nauk Biblijnych KUL, obecnie w Katedrze Egzegezy Ewangelii i Pism Apostolskich. Obszar zainteresowań autora obejmuje w szczególności hermeneutykę i metodologię biblijną (zob. S. Szymik, Współczesne modele egzegezy biblijnej, Lublin: Wydawnictwo KUL 2013) oraz aktualizację Biblii w życiu Kościoła.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9544-2976



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