A recent book co-authored by a Mormon and an evangelical (with some arguably non-evangelical views) claims that Mormons agree with evangelicals “that Jesus was fully God.” I have reviewed this book on Parchment and Pen, the blog of Reclaiming the Mind Ministries.

Rob Bowman will be a guest on the Living by the Word radio program tonight, Sunday, November 18, from 10:00 pm to midnight (Pacific time). The program is hosted by Brian Allen of Living by the Word Ministries and Craig Hawkins of the Apologetics Information Ministry. You can listen live in the greater Los Angeles area at KKLA 99.5 FM, or from anywhere on their web site or at HisChannel.com. They will be discussing the book Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ. This is a live, call-in radio program, so you can call Rob with your questions! You can also listen to archives of the broadcast at a later date.

The current issue of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (Vol. 50, No. 3, Sept. 2007) includes an article by Herbert W. Bateman IV entitled “Defining the Titles ‘Christ’ and ‘Son of God’ in Mark’s Narrative” (pp. 537-59). Although Bateman affirms the deity of Christ, he argues in this article that the title “Son of God” in Mark does not connote deity or refer to Jesus as divine. Rather, he argues, “Son of God” in Mark is synonymous with “Christ” and identifies Jesus as the Messiah, the “son of David.”

I have completed a first draft of a paper on this topic that offers a counterpoint to Bateman’s argument. In my view, the title “Son of God” in Mark connotes something beyond, and greater than, Jesus’ role as the Davidic Messiah–and does, in fact, connote deity. As soon as the paper is available, I will make that known here.