In a detailed 1965 article in the journal Theological Studies examining whether Jesus was ever called "God" in the New Testament, Brown concluded that "Even the fourth Gospel never portrays Jesus as saying specifically that he is God" and "there is no reason to think that Jesus was called God in the earliest layers of New Testament tradition."
U detaljnom članku iz 1965. u časopisu Theological Studies (Teološke studije) istražujući je li Isus ikada bio nazvan "Bogom" u Novom zavjetu, Brown je zaključio da "čak ni četvrto evanđelje Isusa nikada ne prikazuje kako izričito govori da je Bog" i da "nema razloga da smatramo da je Isus nazivan Bogom u najranijim slojevima novozavjetne tradicije".