One God as one God and One Lord. The Lordship of Christ as a Hermeneutical Key to Paul's Christology in 1 Corinthians (with a special focus on 1 Cor. 8: 4-6)

This exegetical analysis of 8:4-6 contributes to the ongoing discussion on Pauls Christology and its role in the developmentof Early Christian thought. Pauls representation of Jesus Christ as the Lord is analyzed in relation to Hellenistic Roman and Jewishreligious worldviews in which other figures were also called lords. Implying a correlation between status and function of a particularlord and therefore denoting objective characteristics Lordship allows the categorization of various κύριος-figures and the discernmentof Christs peculiarities as κύριος. For Paul one God the Father and one Lord Jesus Christ are coworkers in the universal process from creation to salvation. These unique functions indicate their unique status as the absolute Lords. Jewish tradition already presented the God of Israel as One true God because He is the absolute Lord but now Paul includes both God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ in the One Godhead.This analysis points to the historical and theological continuity in understanding and transmission of Christian Truth. The Christologyof the Church Fathers is deeply rooted in Pauls representation of the figure of Christ.