Richard Bauckham, N. T. Wright, and Crispin H. T. Fletcher-Louis, among others, have argued that Paul’s confession of “one God, the Father . . . and one Lord, Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 8:6) includes both the Father and Jesus Christ within the Shema, the Jewish confession of monotheism (Deut. 6:4). This interpretation has met resistance from such scholars as James McGrath and Andrew Perriman, who deny that Paul viewed Christ as a divine or even preexistent person. In response to their critical objections, this paper defends the view that “Lord” (κύριος) in 1 Corinthians 8:6 identifies Jesus Christ as YHWH and therefore as preexistent deity. The following points summarize the argument of the paper.
(1) Objections based on what Paul did not say (e.g., that there is one God, the Father and the Son) are both logically and exegetically invalid. We must come to terms with what Paul said.
(2) The suggestion that Paul uses the title “Lord” because it was required as counterpoint to the pagan “lords” (v. 5) has things backwards. Rather, Paul refers to both “gods” and “lords” to set up his expanded affirmation of the Shema to include both the Father and Jesus Christ.
(3) Paul’s reference to “gods” and “lords” in contrast to “one God” and “one Lord” alludes to Deuteronomy 10:17, in which Yahweh is called “God of gods and Lord of lords.” This passage is textually and thematically close to the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4, and the allusion confirms that 1 Corinthians 8:5–6 includes Jesus Christ in an expanded version of the Shema.
(4) McGrath proposes that the “gods” in 1 Corinthians 8:5 are heavenly figures while the “lords” are their earthly representatives, setting up verse 6 to distinguish between the Father as “God” and Jesus as his representative “Lord.” This proposal is unworkable for several reasons, notably that Paul explicitly refers to “so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth” (v. 5).
(5) For various reasons given short shrift by critics, a direct allusion to the Shema in Paul’s expression “one Lord” simply cannot be avoided. Both “God” and “Lord” are divine names used in Deuteronomy 6:4; the phrases “one God” and “one Lord” are in direct parallel; every word of the Shema confession (“The Lord our God, the Lord is one”) has a counterpart in 1 Corinthians 8:6; and the word “one” qualifies “Lord” in the Shema.
(6) Throughout 1 Corinthians, Paul refers to Jesus Christ as “Lord” in ways that also echo Old Testament references to Yahweh (1 Cor. 1:2, 8, 31; 2:16; 6:11; 10:21–22; 16:22–23). The last of these allusions, pronouncing a curse on those who do not “love the Lord” (16:22), also alludes specifically to the Shema.
(7) The parallel between 1 Corinthians 8:6 and Romans 11:36 (“From him and through him and for him are all things”) confirms that the statement in 1 Corinthians 8:6 that “all things” are “through” the Lord Jesus is a confession of his divine sovereignty.