Kyrios

When Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek (the Septuagint), they faced a dilemma: how to render the unspeakable name of God, YHWH? They chose kyrios, a common word for "master" or "sir," effectively making it the Greek name for the God of Israel. When early Christians applied this same title to Jesus—calling him Kyrios—they weren't just being respectful; they were making the explosive claim that Jesus shared divine identity with YHWH himself.

Around 112 CE, Roman governor Pliny the Younger wrote anxiously to Emperor Trajan about Christians who refused to say "Caesar is Lord" (Kaisar Kyrios), insisting instead on "Jesus is Lord." This wasn't a theological quibble—it was treason, since declaring anyone other than Caesar as kyrios meant denying the emperor's divine authority. Christians were literally dying for a word choice, because to them, kyrios wasn't transferable; it marked ultimate allegiance.

In everyday Greek life, kyrios was the title slaves used for their masters and wives sometimes used for their husbands—it denoted someone with legal authority over your life. This makes Paul's radical instruction to slave-owning Christians even more striking: he tells them their slaves are actually their brothers, and they share the same Kyrios who shows no partiality. The word that structured Roman hierarchy became the term that was supposed to dismantle it.

"Jesus is Lord" (Kyrios Iēsous) may be Christianity's oldest creed—shorter than any modern statement of faith, yet comprehensive enough to get you killed. Paul suggests this simple declaration was the core baptismal confession, the line between insider and outsider. It's fascinating that the most fundamental Christian claim wasn't about Jesus's ethics, miracles, or even resurrection specifically, but about his status—that this particular Jewish carpenter held the title reserved for God.

In the Roman religious marketplace, kyrios was a competitive title—inscriptions show it applied to Serapis, Isis, and various emperors, all vying for devotion. Archaeological evidence reveals temples and cults throughout the empire proclaiming their deity as the true kyrios. Early Christianity entered this crowded field with an audacious claim: not just that Jesus was a lord among many, but that he was Lord in a way that made all other claimants illegitimate.

Today, calling Jesus "Lord" versus "a good teacher" or "enlightened master" remains Christianity's central fault line—theological liberals and conservatives can agree on much, but this title marks whether you're describing an inspiring human or making a cosmic claim. The awkwardness you might feel saying "Jesus is my Lord" out loud in secular company? That's the same social friction that ancient Christians navigated, the same sense that this word demands something absolute in a relativistic world.