The God of Jesus—Our God?

Although it might seem natural that Jesus' beliefs about God should shape Christian theology, this has often not been the case. Jesus' beliefs about God, including such aspects as omnipotence and personality, were largely shaped by contemporary Judaism. His view of God's character--exercising impartiality and mercy in this world, but at times retribution in the next--was often distinctive, though not always. The questions about the divine nature that had exercised earlier philosophers and theolo