The name 'Jesus' in the Pauline epistles

[Giuseppe]

How many times does the name 'Jesus' appear in the epistles in comparison to ''Christ''?


From 1 to 10, which vote is possible to say to the possibility that these occurrences were all later (proto-catholic) interpolations?

[Secret Alias]

Well the place to start is to see Book 5 of AM. Here all the 'Jesus' references in the book devoted to the Marcionite use of the Pauline epistles:

5.1.[6] Nam et Saulis primo asperitas insectationis erga David, dehinc paenitentia et satisfactio, bona pro malis recipientis, non aliud portendebat quam Paulum in Saule secundum tribus et Iesum in David secundum virginis censum.

5.5.[2] Evangelizator enim bonorum, id est gratiae dei, pacem quam1 praeferendam sciebat. Haec cum a deo patre nostro et domino Iesu annuntians communibus nominibus utatur, competentibus nostro quoque sacramento, non puto dispici posse quis deus pater et dominus Iesus praedicetur, nisi ex accedentibus cui magis competant.

5.8.[7] Sed iam nec mihi competit principes huius aevi virtutes et potestates interpretari creatoris, quia ignorantiam illis adscribit apostolus, Iesum autem et secundum nostrum evangelium diabolus quoque in temptatione cognovit, et secundum commune instrumentum spiritus nequam sciebat eum sanctum dei esse et Iesum vocari et in perditionem eorum venisse.

5.11.[1] Si deus commune vocabulum factum est vitio erroris humani, quatenus plures dei dicuntur atque creduntur in saeculo, benedictus tamen
deus domini nostri1 Iesu Christi non alius quam creator intellegetur qui et universa benedixit, habes Genesim; et ab universis benedicitur, habes Danielem.

5.13.10 Nisi si creator ideo legem intercalavit, ut negotium procuraret gratiae dei alterius et quidem aemuli, ne dixerim ignoti, ut, quemadmodum apud ipsum regnaverat peccatum in mortem, ita et gratia regnaret in iustitia in vitam per Iesum Christum, adversarium ipsius.

5.16.[1] Cogimur quaedam identidem iterare, ut cohaerentia eis confirmemus. Dominum et hic retributorem utriusque meriti dicimus circumferri ab apostolo, aut creatorem aut, quod nolit Marcion, parem creatoris, apud quem iustum sit afflictatoribus nostris rependi afflictationem, et nobis qui afflictemur requietem, in revelatione domini Iesu venientis a caelo cum angelis virtutis suae et in flamma ignis.

5.16.4 Secundum nos quidem antichristus, ut docent veteres ac novae prophetiae, ut Ioannes apostolus, qui iam antichristos dicit processisse in mundum praecursores antichristi spiritus, negantes Christum in carne venisse, et sol- ventes Iesum, scilicet in deo creatore: secundum vero Marcionem nescio ne sit Christus creatoris. Nondum venit apud illum. Quisquis est autem ex duobus, quaero cur veniat in omni virtute et signis et ostentis mendacii?

By contrast 'christus' in some form or other appears 267 times.

[Secret Alias]

There is something odd about the paucity of 'Jesus' references in AM. It's very peculiar that in Book 4 - the book that deals with the gospel - there are only two explicit citations of 'Jesus' from the gospel. This when 'Jesus' appears over and over again in our gospels and 'Christ' never appears in the text. Note also that 'Jesus' is never cited as far as I can see as a name from the 'narrator' of the gospel. We aren't told that 'Jesus' is the protagonists name. Rather we see citations of 'Jesus' from the mouths of characters in the gospel and - well - characters are clearly understood to misidentify Jesus. For instance 'Jesus son of David' - at least part of this identification is understood to be a misidentification (i.e. 'son of David' by the Marcionites). When the blind man has his sight restored he simply calls Jesus 'Lord.'

[Secret Alias]

What have we to do with thee, Jesus? Thou art come to destroy us. I know who thou art, the Holy One of God. (4.7)

Jesus thou son of David, have mercy on me, (4.36)

The only gospel citations that use the name Jesus and both appear as things said about the main protagonist by characters who - at least in one case - are argued to have misrepresented the name of the main protagonist.

[Ben C. Smith]

How many times does the name 'Jesus' appear in the epistles in comparison to ''Christ''?

Here are the raw results from a Bibleworks 9 search of the NT epistles:

Jesus, no Christ

Rom. 3:26
Rom. 4:24
Rom. 10:9
Rom. 14:14
Rom. 16:20
1 Co. 5:4
1 Co. 9:1
1 Co. 11:23
1 Co. 12:3
1 Co. 16:23
2 Co. 1:14
2 Co. 4:10f, 14
2 Co. 11:4, 31
Gal. 6:17
Eph. 1:15
Eph. 4:21
Phil. 2:10, 19
Col. 3:17
Col. 4:11
1 Thess. 1:10
1 Thess. 2:15, 19
1 Thess. 3:11, 13
1 Thess. 4:1f, 14
2 Thess. 1:7f
2 Thess. 2:8
Phlm. 1:5
Heb. 2:9
Heb. 3:1
Heb. 4:8, 14
Heb. 6:20
Heb. 7:22
Heb. 10:19
Heb. 12:2, 24
Heb. 13:12, 20
2 Pet. 1:2
1 Jn. 1:7
1 Jn. 4:3, 15
1 Jn. 5:5

Christ, no Jesus

Rom. 5:6, 8
Rom. 6:4, 8f
Rom. 7:4
Rom. 8:9f, 17, 35
Rom. 9:1, 3, 5
Rom. 10:4, 6f, 17
Rom. 12:5
Rom. 14:9, 15, 18
Rom. 15:3, 7f, 18ff, 29
Rom. 16:5, 7, 9f, 16, 18
1 Co. 1:6, 12f, 17, 23f
1 Co. 2:16
1 Co. 3:1, 23
1 Co. 4:1, 10
1 Co. 5:7
1 Co. 6:15
1 Co. 7:22
1 Co. 8:11f
1 Co. 9:12, 21
1 Co. 10:4, 9, 16
1 Co. 11:1, 3
1 Co. 12:12, 27
1 Co. 15:3, 12ff, 22f
2 Co. 1:5, 21
2 Co. 2:10, 12, 14f, 17
2 Co. 3:3f, 14
2 Co. 4:4
2 Co. 5:10, 14, 16ff
2 Co. 6:15
2 Co. 8:23
2 Co. 9:13
2 Co. 10:1, 5, 7, 14
2 Co. 11:2f, 10, 13, 23
2 Co. 12:2, 9f, 19
2 Co. 13:3
Gal. 1:6f, 10, 22
Gal. 2:17, 19ff
Gal. 3:13, 16, 24, 27, 29
Gal. 4:19
Gal. 5:1f, 4
Gal. 6:2, 12
Eph. 1:10, 12, 20
Eph. 2:5, 12
Eph. 3:4, 8, 17, 19
Eph. 4:7, 12f, 15, 20, 32
Eph. 5:2, 5, 14, 21, 23ff, 29, 32
Eph. 6:5f
Phil. 1:10, 13, 15, 17f, 20f, 23, 27, 29
Phil. 2:1, 16, 30
Phil. 3:7, 9, 18
Col. 1:2, 7, 24, 27f
Col. 2:2, 5, 8, 11, 17, 20
Col. 3:1, 3f, 11, 15f, 24
Col. 4:3
1 Thess. 2:7
1 Thess. 3:2
1 Thess. 4:16
2 Thess. 3:5
1 Tim. 5:11
Phlm. 1:6, 8, 20
Heb. 3:6, 14
Heb. 5:5
Heb. 6:1
Heb. 9:11, 14, 24, 28
Heb. 11:26
1 Pet. 1:11, 19
1 Pet. 2:21
1 Pet. 3:15f, 18
1 Pet. 4:1, 13f
1 Pet. 5:1, 14
2 Jn. 1:9

Both Jesus and Christ

Rom. 1:1, 4, 6ff
Rom. 2:16
Rom. 3:22, 24
Rom. 5:1, 11, 15, 17, 21
Rom. 6:3, 11, 23
Rom. 7:25
Rom. 8:1f, 11, 34, 39
Rom. 13:14
Rom. 15:5f, 16f, 30
Rom. 16:3, 25, 27
1 Co. 1:1ff, 7ff, 30
1 Co. 2:2
1 Co. 3:11
1 Co. 4:15, 17
1 Co. 6:11
1 Co. 8:6
1 Co. 15:31, 57
1 Co. 16:24
2 Co. 1:1ff, 19
2 Co. 4:5f
2 Co. 8:9
2 Co. 13:5, 13
Gal. 1:1, 3, 12
Gal. 2:4, 16
Gal. 3:1, 14, 22, 26, 28
Gal. 4:14
Gal. 5:6, 24
Gal. 6:14, 18
Eph. 1:1ff, 5, 17
Eph. 2:6f, 10, 13, 20
Eph. 3:1, 6, 11, 21
Eph. 5:20
Eph. 6:23f
Phil. 1:1f, 6, 8, 11, 19, 26
Phil. 2:5, 11, 21
Phil. 3:3, 8, 12, 14, 20
Phil. 4:7, 19, 21, 23
Col. 1:1, 3f
Col. 2:6
Col. 4:12
1 Thess. 1:1, 3
1 Thess. 2:14
1 Thess. 5:9, 18, 23, 28
2 Thess. 1:1f, 12
2 Thess. 2:1, 14, 16
2 Thess. 3:6, 12, 18
1 Tim. 1:1f, 12, 14ff
1 Tim. 2:5
1 Tim. 3:13
1 Tim. 4:6
1 Tim. 5:21
1 Tim. 6:3, 13f
2 Tim. 1:1f, 9f, 13
2 Tim. 2:1, 3, 8, 10
2 Tim. 3:12, 15
2 Tim. 4:1
Tit. 1:1, 4
Tit. 2:13
Tit. 3:6
Phlm. 1:1, 3, 9, 23, 25
Heb. 10:10
Heb. 13:8, 21
Jas. 1:1
Jas. 2:1
1 Pet. 1:1ff, 7, 13
1 Pet. 2:5
1 Pet. 3:21
1 Pet. 4:11
1 Pet. 5:10
2 Pet. 1:1, 8, 11, 14, 16
2 Pet. 2:20
2 Pet. 3:18
1 Jn. 1:3
1 Jn. 2:1, 22
1 Jn. 3:23
1 Jn. 4:2
1 Jn. 5:1, 6, 20
2 Jn. 1:3, 7
Jude 1:1, 4, 17, 21, 25

Also, I once posted a little bit of data about this issue from a text-critical perspective: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2604&p=58432#p58432.

[Ben C. Smith]

Also, I once posted a little bit of data about this issue from a text-critical perspective: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2604&p=58432#p58432.

The Pauline epistolary greetings are compared by themselves here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2494&p=55935#p55935.

[Giuseppe]

Thanks, Ben. Here is the same list, limited to the authentic pauline epistles. I see often the occurrence of ''The Lord Jesus''.

I want to limit in the next post to only Galatians.

Jesus, no Christ

Rom. 3:26
Rom. 4:24
Rom. 10:9
Rom. 14:14
Rom. 16:20
1 Co. 5:4
1 Co. 9:1
1 Co. 11:23
1 Co. 12:3
1 Co. 16:23
2 Co. 1:14
2 Co. 4:10f, 14
2 Co. 11:4, 31
Gal. 6:17
Phil. 2:10, 19
1 Thess. 1:10
1 Thess. 2:15, 19
1 Thess. 3:11, 13
1 Thess. 4:1f, 14
2 Thess. 1:7f
2 Thess. 2:8

Christ, no Jesus

Rom. 5:6, 8
Rom. 6:4, 8f
Rom. 7:4
Rom. 8:9f, 17, 35
Rom. 9:1, 3, 5
Rom. 10:4, 6f, 17
Rom. 12:5
Rom. 14:9, 15, 18
Rom. 15:3, 7f, 18ff, 29
Rom. 16:5, 7, 9f, 16, 18
1 Co. 1:6, 12f, 17, 23f
1 Co. 2:16
1 Co. 3:1, 23
1 Co. 4:1, 10
1 Co. 5:7
1 Co. 6:15
1 Co. 7:22
1 Co. 8:11f
1 Co. 9:12, 21
1 Co. 10:4, 9, 16
1 Co. 11:1, 3
1 Co. 12:12, 27
1 Co. 15:3, 12ff, 22f
2 Co. 1:5, 21
2 Co. 2:10, 12, 14f, 17
2 Co. 3:3f, 14
2 Co. 4:4
2 Co. 5:10, 14, 16ff
2 Co. 6:15
2 Co. 8:23
2 Co. 9:13
2 Co. 10:1, 5, 7, 14
2 Co. 11:2f, 10, 13, 23
2 Co. 12:2, 9f, 19
2 Co. 13:3
Gal. 1:6f, 10, 22
Gal. 2:17, 19ff
Gal. 3:13, 16, 24, 27, 29
Gal. 4:19
Gal. 5:1f, 4
Gal. 6:2, 12
Phil. 1:10, 13, 15, 17f, 20f, 23, 27, 29
Phil. 2:1, 16, 30
Phil. 3:7, 9, 18
1 Thess. 2:7
1 Thess. 3:2
1 Thess. 4:16
2 Thess. 3:5


Both Jesus and Christ

Rom. 1:1, 4, 6ff
Rom. 2:16
Rom. 3:22, 24
Rom. 5:1, 11, 15, 17, 21
Rom. 6:3, 11, 23
Rom. 7:25
Rom. 8:1f, 11, 34, 39
Rom. 13:14
Rom. 15:5f, 16f, 30
Rom. 16:3, 25, 27
1 Co. 1:1ff, 7ff, 30
1 Co. 2:2
1 Co. 3:11
1 Co. 4:15, 17
1 Co. 6:11
1 Co. 8:6
1 Co. 15:31, 57
1 Co. 16:24
2 Co. 1:1ff, 19
2 Co. 4:5f
2 Co. 8:9
2 Co. 13:5, 13
Gal. 1:1, 3, 12
Gal. 2:4, 16
Gal. 3:1, 14, 22, 26, 28
Gal. 4:14
Gal. 5:6, 24
Gal. 6:14, 18
Phil. 1:1f, 6, 8, 11, 19, 26
Phil. 2:5, 11, 21
Phil. 3:3, 8, 12, 14, 20
Phil. 4:7, 19, 21, 23
1 Thess. 1:1, 3
1 Thess. 2:14
1 Thess. 5:9, 18, 23, 28
2 Thess. 1:1f, 12
2 Thess. 2:1, 14, 16
2 Thess. 3:6, 12, 18

[Ben C. Smith]

Thanks, Ben. Here is the same list, limited to the authentic pauline epistles. I see often the occurrence of ''The Lord Jesus''.

Here are a couple of sublists:

Jesus, no Christ, no Lord

Rom. 3:26
2 Co. 4:10f
2 Co. 11:4
Gal. 6:17
Eph. 4:21
Phil. 2:10
Col. 4:11
1 Thess. 1:10
1 Thess. 4:14
Heb. 2:9
Heb. 3:1
Heb. 4:8, 14
Heb. 6:20
Heb. 7:22
Heb. 10:19
Heb. 12:2, 24
Heb. 13:12
1 Jn. 1:7
1 Jn. 4:3, 15
1 Jn. 5:5

Lord, Jesus, no Christ

Rom. 4:24
Rom. 10:9
Rom. 14:14
Rom. 16:20
1 Co. 5:4
1 Co. 9:1
1 Co. 11:23
1 Co. 12:3
1 Co. 16:23
2 Co. 1:14
2 Co. 4:14
2 Co. 11:31
Eph. 1:15
Phil. 2:19
Col. 3:17
1 Thess. 2:15, 19
1 Thess. 3:11, 13
1 Thess. 4:1f
2 Thess. 1:7f
2 Thess. 2:8
Phlm. 1:5
Heb. 13:20
2 Pet. 1:2

[Giuseppe]

Here are all the occurrences of 'Jesus' in Galatians. Only in Gal 6:17 ''Jesus'' appears alone without ''Christ''.

What strikes me prima facie is the verse 2:16, where within the same line Paul abandons the use of 'Christ Jesus'' and repeats only 'Christ' ignoring (deliberately?) 'Jesus'.

nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

(Gal 2:16)
Under the hypothesis of a Separationist Christology in Paul, he would ''believed in Christ Jesus'', to mean the spirit + the man, so that he ''may be justified by faith in Christ'' only. The act of ''believing'' is distinct from the act of being ''justified'' insofar the first is an earthly act, while the second is a trascendent act, regarding not this world. Here Paul may have meant that he - like any other of the stupid hoi polloi - believed to the message of the man possessed by the god, but he was saved only by the god. The impression is that for Paul Jesus is only the name of the human appearance of the Christ, and as such 'Jesus' is distinct from 'Christ'.
The same impression is given by :

From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.

(Gal 6:17-18)

The physical brand-marks are only of Jesus and not of the Christ.

And still:

and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself.

(Gal 4:14)

The man Paul may be compared to the man Jesus, while the ''angel of God'' to Christ.

Surely the two names are so strictly linked between them that it is difficult to derive some firm conclusion about the point above.

Paul, an apostle not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead,

(Gal 1:1)

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

(Gal 1:2)

For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

(Gal 1:12)

But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.

(Gal 2:4)

You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?

(Gal 3:1)

...in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

(Gal 3:14)

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

(Gal 4:26)

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man,
there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

(Gal 4:28)

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

(Gal 5:6)

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

(Gal 5:24)

But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

(Gal 6:14)

[Irish1975]

I have been wondering about the origin of the name "Jesus." Both the New Testament framing and the saga of modern Jesus scholarship tell the story of a man's humble origin in Nazareth (or Bethlehem), where his parent(s) named him Jesus. One and done.

From a mythicist perspective, however, the question is more interesting. It appears that Paul first receives and makes known the name of the savior as Jesus. As I think is shown in this thread, Jesus and Christ and Jesus Christ and Christ Jesus are all interchangeable names for Paul of the resurrected savior.

The Philippians hymn makes it explicit. God, in resurrecting the one who emptied himself unto death on a cross, highly exalts him, and how? By giving him the name above every name, Jesus. Of this event Paul is the witness. "Have I not seen our lord Jesus?" (1 Cor 9:1), i.e., Jesus is the risen one and Paul saw him as that and thus received knowledge of the most holy name as a key part of the revelation.

The suggestion is that learning the name of the Son/Savior/Christ as Jesus is a central if not the central part of what Paul calls the revelation of God's son in him (Galatians 1:16). Paul learns the name Jesus by revelation, and preaches this name. That's how the name Jesus came into the world as a component of the title "Lord Jesus Christ."

The story of Paul's conversion in Acts, in spite of Luke/Acts being the quintessential historicist narrative, confirms this idea:

Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus..."

The Odes of Solomon testify to a community that experienced, or invoked, or celebrated, the christos (messiah, anointed). But they never knew him as Jesus. Only through Paul did that revelation enter history.