An important contribution to the debate on the development of Christology in the apostolic era, tracing the evolution of the historical figure of Jesus.

Based on the 1985 Cardbury Lectures delivered at the University of Birmingham, England, this book describes and explains the origins and development of New Testament Christology. Using both original sources and established and recent scholarship, Casey presents a convincing argument to support his Christological framework. He traces the evolution through the Pauline Epistles and the Gospels of the historical figure of Jesus, the Aramaic-speaking Jew, to his identification as Jesus Christ, the Messiah and Son of God. The declaration of his deity in John's Gospel is related to the Gentile self-identification of the Johannine community.

This is the first book in the field of Christian origins to make serious analytical use of the concept of identity. It includes new discussion and explanation of early Christian belief in the Resurrection, the Virgin birth and other elements of Christian dogma.

Lucid and cogently organised, this book's conclusions are both logical and startling. Casey's work represents a major advance in the study of Christology.