The Preexistence and Eternal Ontological Identity of

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August 10, 2026

By Marc Bates Founder and Chief Apologetics Officer

ARTICLE GUIDE

At a Glance

A rigorous assessment of Christ’s ontological identity must begin by defining the divine attributes as presented in Scripture, prior to examining how New Testament authors ascribe these attributes to Jesus of Nazareth. This study employs a canonical-theological methodology, grounding its argument in a close, text-driven reading of the New Testament canon as a unified and progressively unfolding narrative.

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A rigorous assessment of Christ's ontological identity must begin by defining the divine attributes as presented in Scripture, prior to examining how New Testament authors ascribe these attributes to Jesus of Nazareth. This study employs a canonical-theological methodology, grounding its argument in a close, text-driven reading of the New Testament canon as a unified and progressively unfolding narrative. Historical-critical scholarship is engaged where necessary to clarify the context of contemporary debates, but the primary emphasis remains on the canonical witness. The analysis focuses on Chapter 10 (“The Preexistence of Christ”) in Part 2 of Robert M. Bowman Jr. and J. Ed Komoszewski's The Incarnate Christ and His Critics: A Biblical Defense (2024), examining the theological,…

To assess the ontological framework of Christ's identity, it is necessary first of all to define precisely the attributes of God before examining how the writers of the New Testament ascribe those attributes to Jesus of Nazareth (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2024). The chapter entitled “The Preexistence of Christ” in Robert M. Bowman Jr. and J. Ed Komoszewski's book The Incarnate Christ and His Critics: A Biblical Defense, Chapter 10, acts as an introduction to Part 2 (“Like Father, Like Son: Jesus' Divine Attributes”) (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2024). In the cognitive setting characteristic of Second Temple Judaism, eternality is the primary metaphysical feature that distinguishes the uncreated Creator from all that is created (Bauckham, 2008; Bowman…

What This Study Explores

Promise-Plan Theology

Does the New Testament Teach Christ’s Personal Preexistence?

Yes. The New Testament describes Jesus not merely as an idea foreknown by God or a human elevated after birth, but as a personal agent who shared divine glory, came from heaven, participated in creation, bore the divine name, and entered human existence. John states this most explicitly, but Pauline hymnic material, Hebrews, and Synoptic “I came” sayings demonstrate that preexistence is not confined to a late Johannine development.

Personal preexistence also requires ontological explanation. A created heavenly being would remain on the creature side of the absolute divide, yet New Testament authors include Jesus within actions and honors unique to Israel’s God. The incarnation is therefore not the beginning of the Son’s existence but the historical assumption of human nature by the eternal divine Son.

Key Claims

Eternality marks the Creator-creature distinction. Personal existence before creation cannot be explained as merely ideal foreknowledge.
Jesus participates in creation. John 1, Colossians 1, 1 Corinthians 8, and Hebrews 1 place the Son on the Creator side of reality.
Mission language presupposes origin. Synoptic sayings that Jesus “came” to fulfill a mission cohere with descent and sending traditions.
Divine identity exceeds functional honor. Jesus receives worship, exercises divine prerogatives, and bears Yahweh’s identity without abandoning monotheism.
High Christology is early and Jewish. It emerges within Second Temple categories rather than through a slow pagan deification.

Interpretive Context

Proverbs 8’s personified Wisdom and Jewish speculation about preexistent agents form part of the conceptual background, but neither by itself proves that the Son is a created being or exhausts New Testament Christology. The stronger cumulative case comes from texts that place Christ within creation, the Shema, divine glory, worship, and heavenly descent. Luke 1:35 explains the virginal conception; it does not establish that the Son began to exist there.

The study engages evolutionary Christology associated with Raymond Brown and Bart Ehrman, Unitarian readings of Luke 1:35, Simon Gathercole’s analysis of Synoptic preexistence language, and Richard Bauckham’s divine-identity framework. Chronological development in expression need not imply ontological invention. Promise-plan theology connects the eternal Son’s incarnation with the Angel of Yahweh, divine name traditions, Davidic promise, and Israel’s continuing vocation.

Selected Scholarship

Bauckham, R. (2008). Jesus and the God of Israel.
Bowman, R. M., Jr., & Komoszewski, J. E. (2024). The Incarnate Christ and His Critics.
Gathercole, S. J. (2006). The Preexistent Son.
Hurtado, L. W. (2003). Lord Jesus Christ.
Kaiser, W. C., Jr. (2008). The Promise-Plan of God.

Scripture Connections

Luke 1:35; Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 36; 1 Corinthians 10:4; Proverbs 8:22–31; 1 Corinthians 8:6; John 1:1; John 17:5

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Originally published August 10, 2026. This WordPress page is a discovery guide; the complete article is hosted on Substack.

Filed under:

Biblical Theology, Studies

· Divine Council, Promise-Plan, Read, Second Temple Judaism

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