"Jesus is Lord" (Greek: κύριος Ἰησοῦς, ''kyrios Iesous'') is the shortest credal affirmation found in the New Testament, one of several slightly more elaborate variations. It serves as a statement of faith for the majority of

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...

who regard

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

as both fully man and God. It is the

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. M ...

of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

Background

In antiquity, in general use, the term "lord" was a courtesy title for social superiors, but its root meaning was "ruler". Kings everywhere were styled "Lord" and often considered divine beings so the word acquired a religious significance. When the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond t ...

at least two centuries before Christianity, ''

Kurios ''Kyrios'' or ''kurios'' ( grc, κύριος, kū́rios) is a Greek word which is usually translated as "lord" or "master". It is used in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew scriptures about 7000 times, in particular translating the name ...

'' was used for the divine

tetragrammaton The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', '' he'', '' waw'', and ...

YHVH which was no longer read aloud but replaced with ''adonai'', a special form of the Hebrew ''adon'' = "lord". When in 27 BC Roman Emperor

Octavian Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

received the title of "Augustus" it carried religious overtones, suggesting a special relationship with the world of the gods, symbolised by the cult of the Emperor's "genius", a veiled form of emperor-worship. To refuse to honor the national gods was unpatriotic and akin to sabotage. J. G. Davies comments that the Christian begins from the confession of Jesus as Lord – Jesus who is sovereign over the individual's relation to the state, "we must understand the state in the context of the command to love one's neighbour."

Credal phrases in the New Testament

Pauline Christianity Pauline Christianity or Pauline theology (also Paulism or Paulanity), otherwise referred to as Gentile Christianity, is the theology and form of Christianity which developed from the beliefs and doctrines espoused by the Hellenistic-Jewish Ap ...

, J. N. D. Kelly points out creed-like slogans attributed to

Paul the Apostle Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

in Galatians, 2 Thessalonians, Romans and 1 Corinthians, though they never formed a fixed, standard creed. The most popular and briefest was "Jesus is Lord" found in ; and probably in the baptisms referred to in Acts 8:16; 19:5 and 1 Cor 6:11 since their being described as "in the name of the Lord Jesus" certainly seems to imply that "the formula 'Jesus is Lord' had a place in the rite". The phrase might be extended as "Jesus Christ is Lord" as in . In the early days, the similar formula "Jesus is the Christ" was found, but this faded into the background when its original Messianic significance was forgotten. Of more long-term significance was the affirmation "Jesus is the Son of God". These were expounded upon by passages such as and which describe Christ's work of salvation and the existence of witnesses to his resurrection and he goes on in the following pages to list another ten examples of passages which attach to the name of Jesus "selected incidents in the redemptive story".

Biblical passages

References

Sources

* * *''Epistle to Diognetus'', 5 quoted in * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jesus Is Lord New Testament words and phrases Christology Christian statements of faith Religious formulas

Background

Credal phrases in the New Testament

Biblical passages

See also

References

Sources