The Son of God, Peter, Nathaniel and the Demon

The biblical expression "Son of God" has been a point of contention among bible translators who work  among Islamic peoples for a long time. In the last twelve years this discussion has wandered into Christology and NT lexical semantics[1]. One point of controversy: Is “Son of God” in reference to Jesus a messianic title? A different question: Are “Son of God” and Messiah/Christ synonyms? In this post we will examine texts where “Son of God” is used in reference to Jesus by Peter, Nathaniel and demons.
 
Peter’s confession:

Matt. 16:16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Mark 8:29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”
Luke 9:20 And he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

In Matthew 16:16, do we have two affirmations or a single affirmation repeated? Mark and Luke appear to support the notion that Peter was affirming Jesus as the Messiah.

John 1:49 Nathaniel answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Should we read this as an equivalent to Peter’s confession in Matt. 16:16? Is Nathaniel making one or two affirmations about Jesus?

All three accounts of the Gerasene demoniac use “Son of God” language.

Matt. 8:29 “What have you to do with us, O Son of God?”
Mk 5:7 “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?”
Lk. 8:28 “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?”

The other demonic affirmations use a messianic title “Holy One of God”

Mark 1:24  “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”
Luke 4:34 “Ah! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” 

Are all the demons affirming the same notion, that Jesus is the Messiah? My natural inclination is to read trinitarian dogmatic definitions developed in the fourth century back into “Son of God” title. In other words, to understand this expression as equivalent to God the Son, the second person of the trinity. I don’t think the NT uses “Son of God” as a technical term. On the other hand, I think that calling  “Son of God” merely a messianic title and nothing more is also an error. The evidence from Peter’s confession suggests that there was significant semantic overlap between “Son of God” and Christ. But that alone does not entail a restriction on the meaning of “Son of God.”  When the gospels were written the title Christ had probably absorbed all the implications of divine sonship. In other words, the semantic significance of the Messiah had expanded to include all implications of “Son of God.”     

[1] most of these articles are available as .pdf files on the web.

Abernathy, D. (2010). Translating “Son of God” in Missionary Bible Tranalstion: A Critique of “Muslim-idiom Biblie Translations’: Claims and facts.” St. Francis Magazine, 6(1).

Abernathy, D. (2010). JESUS IS THE ETERNAL SON OF GOD St Francis Magazine 6:2 (April 2010).

Horrell, J. S. (2010). Cautions Regarding “Son of God” in Muslim-idiom Translations of the Bible: Seeking Sensible Balance. St. Francis Magazine, 6(638-676.

Brown, R., Penny, J., & Gray, L. (2009). Muslim-idiom Bible Translations: Claims and Facts. St. Francis Magazine, 5(6), 87-105.

Brown, Rick. 2000. The ‘Son of God’: Understanding the messianic titles
of Jesus. International Journal of Frontier Missions. 17(1):
41–52.

Brown, Rick. 2005a. Explaining the biblical term ‘Son(s) of God’ in Muslim
contexts. International Journal of Frontier Missions. 22(3):
91–96.

Brown, Rick.  2005b. Translating the biblical term ‘Son(s) of God’ in Muslim
contexts. International Journal of Frontier Missions. 22(4):
135–145.

Brown, Rick. 2004. Son of Man, Son of God, Word of God, Christ: An
exegesis of major titles of Jesus, with suggestions for translation
and explanatory notes. Unpublished monograph.

Brown, Rick. 2001. Presenting the deity of Christ from the Bible. International
Journal of Frontier Missions. 19(1): 20-27.