The use and meaning of the term Son of Man, which is found in the New Testament almost exclusively in the Gospels, has been the cause of endless controversy in this century. Here, in an attempt to break the deadlock in the debate, Barnabas Lindars offers a complete reappraisal of the meaning and use of "Son of Man" in the New Testament.

Lindars reviews the linguistic usage of the Aramaic phrase that lies behind the New Testament Greek phrase, concluding that in Aramaic "Son of Man" simply meant a man or human being. Jesus used this phrase to indicate his identification with the human person.

Lindars then takes this original meaning as the criterion for distin guishing the authentic sayings of Jesus from those constructed by the Gospel authors. He goes on to devote a chapter to each Gospel's Son of Man sayings, showing each evangelist's distinctive use of the phrase. Finally, he relates the whole tradition of the Son of Man sayings to the development of Christology.

"If the Son of Man," writes Lindars, "is removed from the centre of the stage as a christological title, it gains fresh importance as a remarkable commentary upon the larger process of the transition from the Jesus of history to the Christ of faith."