We know the NT speaks of “God” and “Father” regularly, but have you ever wondered how many times God is called “God” versus “Father,” or which appellation different NT authors prefer? What about the NT use of “Son,” “Lord,” “Jesus,” and “Christ? I have, so I took the time to research it, and here is what I found:
Mt = Father = 43 times (all by Jesus)
Mt = God = 42 times (27 by Jesus)
Mt = Lord = 49 times (16 refer to God, 33 to Jesus)
Mt = Son = 56 times
Mt = Jesus = 182 times
Mt = Christ = 12 times
Mk = Father = 5 times (all by Jesus)
Mk = God = 33 times (31 by Jesus)
Mk = Lord = 14 times (7 refer to God, 7 to Jesus)
Mk = Son = 24 times
Mk = Jesus = 103 times
Mk = Christ = 7 times
Lk = Father = 15 times (all by Jesus)
Lk = God = 85 times (52 by Jesus)
Lk = Lord = 83 times (36 refer to God, 47 to Jesus)
Lk = Son = 40 times
Lk = Jesus = 102 times
Lk = Christ = 12 times
Jn = Father = 116 times (108 by Jesus)
Jn = God = 70 times (40 by Jesus)
Jn = Lord = 48 times (6 refer to God, 42 to Jesus)
Jn = Son = 39 times
Jn = Jesus = 242 times
Jn = Christ = 12 times
Acts = Father = 3 times
Acts = God = 165 times
Acts = Lord = 98 times (45 refer to God, 36 refer to Jesus, 17 ambiguous)
Acts = Son = 3 times
Acts = Jesus = 71 times
Act = Christ = 26 times
Rom = Father = 4 times
Rom = God = 161 times
Rom = Lord = 44 times (12 refer to God, 18 refer to Jesus, 14 ambiguous)
Rom = Son = 7 times
Rom = Jesus = 38 times
Rom = Christ = 66 times
1Cor = Father = 3 times
1Cor = God = 99 times
1Cor = Lord = 64 times (4 refer to God, 45 refer to Jesus, 15 ambiguous)
1Cor = Son = 2 times
1Cor = Jesus = 26 times
1Cor = Christ = 59 times
2Cor = Father = 5 times
2Cor = God = 73 times
2Cor = Lord = 30 times (2 refer to God, 18 refer to Jesus, 10 ambiguous)
2Cor = Son = 1 time
2Cor = Jesus = 16 time
2Cor = Christ = 44 times
Gal = Father = 4 times
Gal = God = 31 times
Gal = Lord = 4 times (3 refer to Jesus, 1 ambiguous)
Gal = Son = 4 times
Gal = Jesus = 17 times
Gal = Christ = 38 times
Eph = Father = 8 times
Eph = God = 32 times
Eph = Lord = 21 times (10 refer to Jesus, 11 ambiguous)
Eph = Son = 1 time
Eph = Jesus = 20 times
Eph = Christ = 45 times
Phil = Father = 3 times
Phil = God = 23 times
Phil = Lord = 15 times (9 refer to Jesus, 6 ambiguous)
Phil = Son = 0 times
Phil = Jesus = 22 times
Phil = Christ = 36 times
Col = Father = 6 times
Col = God = 21
Col = Lord = 13 times (10 refer to Jesus, 3 ambiguous)
Col = Son = 1 time
Col = Jesus = 7 times
Col = Christ = 24 times
1Th = Father = 5 times
1Th = God = 38 times
1Th = Lord = 24 times (22 refer to Jesus, 2 ambiguous)
1Th = Son 1 time
1Th = Jesus 16 times
1Th = Christ = 10 times
2Th = Father = 3 times
2Th = God = 18 times
2Th = Lord = 22 times (15 refer to Jesus, 6 ambiguous)
2Th = Son = 0 times
2Th = Jesus = 12 times
2Th = Christ = 10 times
1Tim = Father = 1 time
1Tim = God = 22 times
1Tim = Lord = 6 times (6 refer to Jesus)1Tim = Son = 0 times
1Tim = Jesus = 14 times
1Tim = Christ = 15 times
2Tim = Father = 1 time
2Tim = God = 15 times
2Tim = Lord = 15 times (2 refer to God, 3 refer to Jesus, 10 ambiguous)
2Tim = Son = 0 times
2Tim = Jesus = 13 times
2Tim = Christ = 13 times
Tit = Father = 1 time
Tit = God = 12 timesTit = Lord = 0 times
Tit = Son = 0 times
Tit = Jesus = 4 times
Tit = Christ = 4 times
Phlm = Father = 1 time
Phlm = God = 2 times
Phlm = Lord = 5 times (5 refer to Jesus)
Phlm = Son = 0 times
Phlm = Jesus = 6 times
Phlm = Christ = 7 times
Heb = Father = 2 times
Heb = God = 68 times
Heb = Lord = 16 times (12 refer to God, 3 refer to Jesus, 1 ambiguous)
Heb = Son = 11 times
Heb = Jesus = 14 times
Heb = Christ = 12 times
Jam = Father = 3 times
Jam = God = 17 times
Jam = Lord = 15 times (4 refer to God, 4 refer to Jesus, 7 ambiguous)
Jam = Son = 0 times
Jam = Jesus = 2 times
Jam = Christ = 2 times
1Pet = Father = 3 times
1Pet = God = 39 times
1Pet = Lord = 6 times (3 refer to God, 3 refer to Jesus)
1Pet = Son = 0 times
1Pet = Jesus = 9 times
1Pet = Christ = 22 times
2Pet = Father = 1 time
2Pet = God = 7 times
2Pet = Lord = 14 times 2 refer to God, 11 refer to Jesus, 1 ambiguous)
2Pet = Son = 1 times
2Pet = Jesus = 9 times
2Pet = Christ = 8 times
1Jn = Father = 13 times
1Jn = God = 56 times
1Jn = Lord = 0 times
1Jn = Son = 22 times
1Jn = Jesus = 12 times
1Jn = Christ = 8 times
2Jn = Father = 3 times
2Jn = God = 2 times
2Jn = Lord = 0 times
2Jn = Son = 2 times
2Jn = Jesus = 2 times
2Jn = Christ = 3 times
3Jn = Father = 0 times3Jn = God = 2 times
3Jn = Lord = 0 times
3Jn = Son = 0 times
3Jn = Jesus = 0 times
3Jn = Christ = 0 times
Jud = Father = 1 time
Jud = God = 5 times
Jud = Lord= 7 times (3 refer to God, 4 refer to Jesus)
Jud = Son = 0 times
Jud = Jesus = 6 times
Jud = Christ = 6 times
Rev = Father = 4 times (3 by Jesus)
Rev = God = 98 times (11 by Jesus)
Rev = Lord = 21 times (14 refer to God, 7 refer to Jesus)
Rev = Son = 1 times
Rev = Jesus = 14 times
Rev = Christ = 7 times
Here are some of my observations:
- God is called “Father” 254 times, and “God” 1236 times (when one excludes references to “Son of God” and “kingdom of God,” otherwise 1352). “Father” and “Lord” combined are only used of God 425 times. The only author to use another term more than “God” is John. In His Gospel and second epistle he uses “Father” more than “God.”
- Jesus addressed God directly as “Father” 19 times, versus as “God” only 3 times.
- “Father” is used nearly twice as often in John, as in all three Synoptics combined.
- John’s favorite appellation is “Father,” while Mark’s and Luke’s is overwhelmingly “God.” Interestingly, however, John uses “God” far more than “Father” in his first epistle.
- Outside the Gospels, the NT authors only use “Father” 78 times, but use “God” more than 1000 times. Clearly this was their preferred term for God, whereas Jesus’ preferred term was “Father” (although not by much: 174 times He called God “Father,” and 161 times He called Him “God”)
- Jesus was almost always called the “Son of God” by others. He rarely used the term of Himself.
- Jesus spoke of Himself as the “Son of Man” 79 times. It was His favorite self-designation. It was only used 4 times by anyone other than Jesus, but in two occurrences, Mark was seemingly quoting Jesus indirectly. In the other two occurrences in John, others were directly quoting Jesus. The only person to use this term other than Jesus was Stephen in Acts.
- Jesus is called “Son of God” only 24 times in the Gospels, and 17 times outside the Gospels. In all but three instances in the Gospels, it is always others calling Jesus the “Son of God.” Jesus always referred to Himself as the “Son of Man.” This is used of Jesus 300+% more (84x) in the Gospels.
- While Jesus is called some variation of “Son” 169 times in the Gospels by both Himself and others, He is only called “Son” outside the Gospels 57 times (33 of those are in Hebrews and 1 John). The authors of Romans through Revelation preferred to call Jesus “Jesus” (350 times) or “Lord” (at least 232 times, and maybe up to 336 due to the ambiguity of 104 occurrences of the word).
- Luke speaks more about the “kingdom of God” (32 times) than all other Gospels combined (22 times). It is only used 14 times outside the Gospels.
- “Jesus” is the most popular NT designation for Jesus (979 times). It is used nearly as much as “Lord,” “Son,” and “Christ” combined (1080 times).
- “Christ” is rarely used in the Gospels (43 times), but used a lot outside the Gospels (460 times in rest of NT, 371 times in Paul specifically [excluding Hebrews]). Clearly, calling Jesus “Lord” and “Christ” are later Christological titles ascribed to Jesus by the church. While they were used occasionally while Jesus was on Earth, there is a stark difference between their use in the Gospels and the rest of the NT. This shows us that the Gospel authors were not imposing later ecclesiastical views of Christ on the historical Jesus. They were faithfully recording how others spoke of Jesus, and how Jesus spoke of Himself, even if it did not fully accord with the ecclesiastical tradition of their day.
- “Christ Jesus” appears only in the epistles of Paul. He used it 90 times, compared to “Lord Jesus” or “Lord Jesus Christ,” which he used a combined 112 times.
- “Jesus” is the preferred name for Jesus in the Gospels, while “Christ” is the preferred name for Jesus in Paul. In all of Paul’s epistles except his earliest (1 and 2 Thes) and latest epistles (1 and 2 Tim), “Christ” is used most. In the epistles to the Thessalonians, Paul uses “Jesus” slightly more than “Christ.” In his epistles to Timothy, he uses “Jesus” and “Christ” in equal numbers. Next to “Christ,” Paul’s favorite designations for Jesus are “Jesus,” “Lord,” and “Son,” in that order (with “Son” coming in at a distant fourth).
Please note, these figures are not exact. I’m sure I made some mistakes in my calculations here and there (one too many, one too few), but the data is fairly accurate—accurate enough to get a sense of how the NT authors use these terms.
July 10, 2009 at 8:16 am
Really, really, really cool stuff here. This is an awesome study. I need to take the time to do more substantive studies like this one.
Keep it up!
Chad
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July 10, 2009 at 10:16 am
Chad,
I’m convinced that only theologians like ourselves can appreciate something like this. Non-theologians are probably scratching their heads saying, “Why in the world would anyone care about this?!” Indeed, after about five hours of this tedious research I was wondering the same thing. 🙂
Jason
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July 13, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I hate to admit this, but it never occurred to me to do this sort of break down. I have at various times checked out the individual names, etc. but never done a comparative look at them all. I admit that I am a bit surprised at the results too. Jesus seemed to indicate in His model prayer that we should pray to the “Father” asking in Jesus’ Name for our petitions, needs, etc., so I expected that Father would have been a clear favorite.
Goes to show once again what the result of assumptions can be. 🙂
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July 13, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Darren,
Indeed, I have been accustomed to saying that in the OT God was referred to as YHWH, but in the NT He is normally referred to as Father. That is true if we are talking about Jesus and John, but not if we are talking about Paul and Peter (most of the NT). They definitely preferred plain ‘ol “God” (which, of course, is still not YHWH…but it’s not “Father” either).
Jason
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July 14, 2009 at 1:31 am
Interesting list – I was hoping for some sort of comment from you regarding the list, but nevermind.
Just out of curiosity, did “Lord God” count as Lord = 1 and God = 1
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July 14, 2009 at 10:40 am
Scott,
I made several comments at the end, in the way of analysis and observation. Or are you referring to comments about my methodology?
Yes, “Lord God” counted as Lord = 1 and God = 1. I didn’t want to try to report on all the various combinations of words used. That would be too much. I was more interested in seeing what terms were applied to Jesus, versus what terms were applied to God.
Jason
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July 15, 2009 at 2:37 am
Jason,
I liked the observation and analysis, but by comment I meant application.
Good list though 🙂
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July 15, 2009 at 10:33 am
Scott,
I see. Application has always been my weak spot! I’m not sure what I could say, other than point out that it is perfectly acceptable for us to refer to Jesus and the Father by many different titles and appellations.
Maybe you can help me and the rest of the readers out here. In what ways would you apply this information?
Jason
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July 16, 2009 at 3:12 am
Ok, here goes
(the following is my interpretation solely and could be complete nonsense :)) I used the names to analyse our relationship to God
God should be viewed as a God above all else (77.96%)
God should be considered our Lord above Father (16.03%)
God should be acknowledged as our Father (6.02%)
Jesus means “Saviour” (basically)
Therefore Jesus should be viewed as our Saviour (Jesus 47.43%)
Jesus was anointed (Christ 24.31%)
Jesus is to be viewed as our Lord (17.49% possibly greater%)
And He was a Son (10.47%)
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July 16, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Scott,
Now I see what kind of analysis you were referring to. I’m not so sure I would adopt this approach as Gospel, but it has some legitimacy.
Jason
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November 19, 2013 at 8:46 pm
Jason,
In your comment to Darren you mention in the OT God was referred to as YHWH, but in the NT He is normally referred to as Father. Have you ever given thought to YHWH in the OT referring to Jesus, the Son of God, Second Person of the Holy Trinity? Pay close attention to Exodus 3:2 as it sets the stage for Moses’ encounter with the LORD. Verily, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
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