Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word

The Divinity of Christ

major Christology

Jesus Christ is fully divine.

This doctrine defines Christian orthodoxy. Denial places one outside the historic faith.

What the traditions say

Roman Catholic affirms_strongly Catholic

Dogma. Reaffirmed at every ecumenical council. The Catechism declares Christ "true God and true man" (CCC 464).

Lutheran affirms_strongly Lutheran

Augsburg Confession III: "God the Son became man, born of the Virgin Mary." Luther saw Christ's divinity as essential to His saving work.

Eastern Orthodox affirms_strongly Orthodox

Central to Orthodox Christology. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (without filioque) is the definitive statement.

Patristic affirms_strongly Patristic

Defined at Nicaea (325): the Son is homoousios (of one substance) with the Father. This was the central theological achievement of the patristic era.

Reformed affirms_strongly Reformed

Westminster Confession II.3: "In the unity of the Godhead there be three Persons of one substance." Christ's divinity is the foundation of His mediatorial work.

Secular Critical reinterprets Secular Critical

Historical criticism traces the development of "high Christology" from early adoptionism through Johannine theology to Nicaea. The question is historical, not metaphysical.

Rabbinic Jewish rejects Jewish

Judaism affirms strict monotheism. The claim that a human being is divine is seen as a violation of the Shema (Deut 6:4).

Key scriptures

  • Col 1:15 — Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
  • Col 2:9 — For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
  • Heb 1:3 — Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
  • John 1:1 — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
  • John 1:14 — And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
  • John 10:30 — I and my Father are one.
  • John 20:28 — And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.
  • Phil 2:6 — Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

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