Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Get the course: bartehrman.com/other-son-of-god
Many Roman coins said "Son of God." It wasn't about Jesus.
The Latin phrase divi filius — "son of the deified one" — appeared across Roman coinage, applied to many emperors starting with Augustus. In Greek, that phrase is identical to the title the Gospel of Mark opens with.
In this episode, C.J. Cornthwaite walks through the mechanics of the Roman imperial cult — how emperors were formally deified after death, how that status passed to their successors, and how the same pattern of language (Son of God, Savior, Lord) shows up applied to a crucified Jewish peasant in the Gospels. We look at inscriptions from Myra, Priene, and Pergamum, Suetonius and Philo on emperors claiming divine honors during their lifetimes, and how this reframes Mark 1:1, the centurion's confession in Mark 15:39, and Thomas's "My Lord and my God" in John 20:28.
C.J. Cornthwaite holds a PhD in Christian Origins and hosts the podcast Footnote Famous, featuring conversations with leading scholars of the Bible and Christian origins.
Correction - Richard C. Miller's book is - Resurrection and Reception in Early Christianity
@cjcornthwaite
0:00 – Some Roman coins said "Son of God"
0:58 – Divi filius: how Caesar became the son of a god
3:16 – Inscriptions and evidence: Myra, Caligula, Philo
4:46 – Vespasian's miracles and the imperial biography pattern
6:52 – The deification pattern: emperors vs. Jesus
8:52 – Where the imperial cult and early Christianity collided
9:52 – Priene, Pergamum, and Revelation's "Satan's throne"
14:10 – Gospel passages decoded (Mark, Luke, John)
18:07 – Did Christians copy the imperial cult, or reinterpret it?
Get the course: bartehrman.com/other-son-of-god
Many Roman coins said "Son of God." It wasn't about Jesus.
The Latin phrase divi filius — "son of the deified one" — appeared across Roman coinage, applied to many emperors starting with Augustus. In Greek, that phrase is identical to the title the Gospel of Mark opens with.
In this episode, C.J. Cornthwaite walks through the mechanics of the Roman imperial cult — how emperors were formally deified after death, how that status passed to their successors, and how the same pattern of language (Son of God, Savior, Lord) shows up applied to a crucified Jewish peasant in the Gospels. We look at inscriptions from Myra, Priene, and Pergamum, Suetonius and Philo on emperors claiming divine honors during their lifetimes, and how this reframes Mark 1:1, the centurion's confession in Mark 15:39, and Thomas's "My Lord and my God" in John 20:28.
C.J. Cornthwaite holds a PhD in Christian Origins and hosts the podcast Footnote Famous, featuring conversations with leading scholars of the Bible and Christian origins.
Correction - Richard C. Miller's book is - Resurrection and Reception in Early Christianity
@cjcornthwaite
0:00 – Some Roman coins said "Son of God"
0:58 – Divi filius: how Caesar became the son of a god
3:16 – Inscriptions and evidence: Myra, Caligula, Philo
4:46 – Vespasian's miracles and the imperial biography pattern
6:52 – The deification pattern: emperors vs. Jesus
8:52 – Where the imperial cult and early Christianity collided
9:52 – Priene, Pergamum, and Revelation's "Satan's throne"
14:10 – Gospel passages decoded (Mark, Luke, John)
18:07 – Did Christians copy the imperial cult, or reinterpret it?
