"Son of God" is a phrase which, according to most Christian denominations Trinitarian in belief, refers to the relationship between Jesus and God, specifically as "God the Son". To a minority of Christians, nontrinitarians, the term "Son of God", applied to Jesus in the New Testament, is accepted, while the non-biblical but less ambiguous "God the Son" is not.
Throughout history, emperors have assumed titles that amount to being "a son of god", "a son of a god" or "son of Heaven". Roman Emperor Augustus referred to his relation to the deified adoptive father, Julius Caesar as "son of a god" via the term divi filius which was later also used by Domitian and is distinct from the use of Son of God in the New Testament.
In the New Testament, the title "Son of God" is applied to Jesus on many occasions. It is often seen as referring to his divinity, from the beginning in the Annunciation up to the Crucifixion. The declaration that Jesus is the Son of God is made by many individuals in the New Testament, and on two separate occasions by God the Father as a voice from Heaven, and is asserted by Jesus himself.
Read more about Son Of God: Historical Context, Christianity, Other Religions and Belief Systems, Imperial Titles
Famous quotes containing the words son of, son and/or god:
“When I was twelve years old I thought up an odd trinity: namely, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Devil. My inference was that God, in contemplating himself, created the second person of the godhead; but that, in order to be able to contemplate himself, he had to contemplate, and thus to create, his opposite.—With this I began to do philosophy.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.”
—Bible: New Testament, Luke 15:13.
“The god who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time: the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)